Bolivia

Bolivia, which is at the heart of South America, is one of the poorest countries of Latin America. The economic and social realities engender strong contrasts and inequalities. Less than half the population has access to drinking water and the degree of illiteracy among children exceeds 65%.

Since March 2009, Bolivia, which is a Plurinational State now, has implemented a National Development Plan, which is based on four fundamentals. It is based on the "Bolivia digna: social y comunitaria” strategy (a respectful, social and community-based Bolivia), which reflects the desire of the government to eliminate poverty and to obtain a fair distribution of incomes and wealth.

To contribute to improving the living conditions of the Bolivian population, the Belgian government has adopted an aid strategy in support of the poorest sectors in collaboration with the local government.

The aid of the Belgian government is focused on fields such as healthcare development in rural areas and the environment. These are traditional fields in which Belgium has developed broad experience. Belgian cooperation in Bolivia wants to integrate diversity in all its activities, in order to take into account the complexity of Bolivian society, which is multi-ethnic and multicultural.

The health sector

The Belgian intervention in this sector is situated in the poorest parts of the Bolivian territory, namely the Bolivian altiplano (region of the upland plains), in the Chayanta province, which is in the north of the Potosí department.
These projects should enable the development of an integrated healthcare system, which will be offered in and accessible to the population of specific areas, so this population can evaluate its health, work on prevention and benefit from care. This system will include primary specialized health care, family and community medicine, health education and nutritional support.

The environmental sector

The environmental projects are focusing on reforestation, productive value chains and water. Another project, situated in the municipality of Vinto, aims at sustainable rural development of the central Cochabamba valley and in particular of the Tunari mountain range, through the introduction of integrated management of the catchment basins, which should contribute to the improvement of the environment.

Belgian cooperation with the Bolivian government aims at improving the living conditions of poor rural populations and that way it aims at achieving the Millennium Development Goals and helps eliminate poverty.