In collaboration with the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI) and the Marist Brothers in Bolivia, the CCIG implemented a new capacity building action addressed to local civil society actors, as part of the project “Towards a better implementation of children’s and women’s rights in Bolivia: Follow-up of the recommendations of the United Nations bodies”. This was a follow up initiative of a previous project carried out by CCIG and its partners in 2019.

Accordingly, on February 2 and 4, 2022, two online training sessions were prepared and run by the CCIG respectively for 71 NGOs representatives and over 31 children and adolescents in Bolivia. The contents were adapted to the training beneficiaries. Supporting training materials were made available to participants prior and during the training, including child-friendly materials for children and adolescents.

The training addressed the functioning of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the Treaty bodies, especially the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), highlighting opportunities for civil society participation. Furthermore, it focused on how to monitor and follow up the recommendations addressed to Bolivia by the UPR and CRC, particularly on women’s and children’s rights, explaining how the follow up of recommendations at the local level is indeed crucial to ensure better human rights implementation in Bolivia.

In fact, follow-up activities are intended to ensure that the recommendations of international human rights mechanisms and bodies are implemented at the local level. The recommendations are intended to remedy gaps in the protection of human rights. The ultimate goal is to bring about positive changes in the lives of rights holders.

The participants have expressed their appreciation for the training received, which is part of a larger project to follow up on international recommendations in order to ensure better implementation of children’s and women’s rights in Bolivia. This goal will be achieved through several project in-country activities to promote children’s participation as well fight against gender violence and child labor. Furthermore, a monitoring plan setting specific indicators to assess the status of implementation of relevant recommendations by the Bolivian government will be built up and filled out with information collected through project activities. The monitoring plan will allow to assess how Bolivia is complaining with its human rights obligations and then serve as basis for following reporting to UN bodies.