Bolivia 2021

Agencia de Noticias Fides Compañía de Jesús

Reducing Polarization and Fostering Diverse Viewpoints in Bolivia

$78,200

To reduce polarization by fostering diverse viewpoints and elevating politically moderate voices. The organization will hold discussions and interviews with ideologically diverse and politically neutral thematic experts on critical issues for democracy. The organization will survey citizens and experts and compile the opinions and analyses into articles, visual materials, videos, and audio clips to amplify diverse voices and foster a common middle ground away from extreme positions. The resulting analysis will include ideas for solutions to key issues for democracy.

 

Fundación ARU

Youth-Led Debates and Policy Recommendations

$120,144

To promote an informed public debate led by youth and based on verifiable data. The organization will train youth on democratic principles, understanding data, and designing public policies. Trained youth then will participate in debates on issues that are crucial to democracy and produce working documents on topics related to elections. The organization will also coordinate working groups of young thematic experts to produce recommendations for electoral reform, which will be shared with decision makers and the media.

 

Fundacion Blue Foresta

Promoting Transparency in Extractive Activities and Infrastructure Projects

$80,000

To promote government accountability and transparency in extractive activities and infrastructure projects. The organization will expose corruption, human rights violations, and environmental damage in large-scale extractive industry and infrastructure projects in protected areas and indigenous lands in Bolivia. This will be achieved through a series of investigative reports, produced by an established network of journalists and disseminated by a coalition of news media outlets in Bolivia and the region. Reports will focus on activities impacting protected lands and indigenous populations.

 

Fundación Jubileo para la Formación e Investigación Político-Social

Promoting Transparency and Participation in Democratic Processes

$179,979

To contribute toward transparency in subnational electoral processes through civil society monitoring and oversight; and to promote citizen participation and collaboration with newly-elected officials in the development of local policies. The organization will provide voter education, monitor the activities of electoral authorities, and organize election observation missions in 30 municipalities. Following elections, it will track trends and threats to democracy and work with residents in rural and conflict areas to design policies and initiatives through dialogue with newly-elected local government actors.

 

Fundación para el Desarrollo Participativo Comunitario

Combatting Hate Speech and Digital Attacks in Bolivia

$56,400

To foster tolerance and peace by documenting and combatting hate speech; and to empower journalists and civil society actors to prevent and mitigate physical and digital attacks. The organization will document instances of online hate speech against vulnerable populations, civil society actors, and journalists. The organization will also provide security training and technical assistance to media and civil society organizations to mitigate the risk of physical and digital attacks in their work.

 

Fundación UNIR Bolivia

Building Dialogue and Reconciliation

$142,600

To promote dialogue and reconciliation among women in leadership positions to build a shared vision for the future. The organization will train women across sectors on strategies for communication, dialogue, and negotiation. Through a series of meetings, women leaders in La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz will implement these strategies to build interpersonal trust, identify common challenges, and build a joint vision for democratic governance. The organization will then guide women leaders as they implement peacebuilding initiatives in their communities.

 

Instituto de Formación Femenina Integral

Empowering Youth to Advocate for Youth-Oriented Policies

$73,170

To strengthen the leadership and advocacy skills of youth to increase their political participation and activism. The organization will work with youth in three areas of sociopolitical conflict as they build political agendas, overcome obstacles to participation, and advocate for local policies that address youth priorities. Youth participants will receive extensive training, expert guidance, and tools to implement creative activism initiatives, using a variety of media formats and techniques to raise awareness about their rights and advocate for youth-oriented policies.

 

Democratic Norms, Ideas and Values

Promoting Debate, Citizen Oversight, and Participation

$125,000

To encourage participatory debate and citizen oversight of critical issues for democracy in Bolivia; and to promote youth leadership and participation in political processes in Bolivia. The organization will coordinate debates on relevant policy issues and produce a series of monitoring recommendations for citizen oversight of priority issues that emerge from the policy debates. The organization will also host an online course for youth leaders and arrange interuniversity debates on issues most relevant to Bolivian youth.

 

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)

Strengthening Political Organizations and Policy Dialogue

$450,000

To strengthen political organizations, citizen participation and dialogue processes in Bolivia, the Institute will strengthen the capacity of political organizations to engage in dialogue, develop policy platforms and implement strategies to increase the participation of women and youth. In parallel, the Institute will work with youth to better understand and explore pathways for political and civic participation in democracies. Activities will include technical assistance to political organizations; multi-sector forums; and workshops on democratic values and grassroots advocacy campaign development.