A/HRC/43/7
of pillar 3 of the Patriotic Agenda 2025, between 2010 and 2018, public expenditure in the
field of education had increased from 10 to more than 23 billion bolivianos and, in 2019, it
represented 11 per cent of the State budget. The redistribution of economic surpluses had
allowed more than 10 million students to benefit from the so-called Juancito Pinto voucher
scheme, which aimed to promote higher rates of school attendance. Additionally, the
national post-literacy programme called “I Can Go On” had brought down the illiteracy rate
to 2.4 per cent and allowed 159,135 people over 15 years of age to complete elementary
school.
10.
Between 2006 and 2016, public investment in the area of health had increased from
5.1 to 7.8 per cent of gross domestic product. In February 2019, the unified health system
had been implemented, which had benefited approximately 5 million people by ensuring
free access to health care for those not covered by short-term social security. The policies
adopted by the Government had increased life expectancy by nine years for women and
seven years for men. Between 2008 and 2016, the mortality rate among children under 5
years old had decreased from 63 to 29 per 1,000 live births and chronic malnutrition had
decreased from 27.1 to 16 per cent among children under 5 years old and from 20.3 to 15.2
per cent among children under 2 years old.
11.
With regard to the right to work, between 2005 and 2017, the unemployment rate
had fallen from 8.1 to 4.5 per cent, representing one of the lowest unemployment rates in
the region. In addition, the national minimum wage had been increased at a rate higher than
that of inflation.
12.
Between 2014 and 2018, 95,990 housing units had been built, upgraded, extended
and/or renovated, allocating around 23 per cent of them to older persons, persons with
disabilities or women. During the same period, the “My Water” programme had guaranteed
access to improved water sources for 94 per cent of the urban population and 67 per cent of
the rural population. Communications coverage had been expanded through the creation of
more than 2,500 educational and health telecentres.
13.
The Plurinational State of Bolivia had adopted the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, a crucial tool to fight
against discrimination and promote decent living standards in rural areas. The Government
had promoted a land redistribution policy for indigenous and aboriginal campesino peoples
with a special focus on providing land titles to women.
14.
The Plurinational State of Bolivia had been one of the sponsors of the General
Assembly resolution proclaiming 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
At the regional level, it had promoted the creation of the Inter-American Institute of
Indigenous Languages and, at the national level, it had implemented various policies for the
protection of indigenous languages. Indigenous languages were part of the national
education system and a knowledge of them was a requirement for working in the public
service.
15.
The Plurinational State of Bolivia had been the first country in South America to
ratify the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in
Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement). It had
also promoted the establishment of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples
Platform to facilitate the participation of these groups in the implementation of the Paris
Agreement on Climate Change.
16.
In order to improve access to justice and create a specialized jurisdiction in matters
related to individual rights and freedoms, in 2018, 22 constitutional chambers had been
established within the departmental courts of justice. In 2019, a comprehensive prison
census had been completed in order to produce objective statistical information regarding
the situation of persons deprived of liberty and develop comprehensive prison policies.
With the objective of clarifying the human rights violations that had occurred between 1964
and 1982, in 2016, the Government had established a Truth Commission, which was now in
the process of drafting its final report.
17.
With regard to the rights of children and adolescents, a comprehensive plurinational
system to protect children and adolescents had been established and, among other
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