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NATIONAL
● The public political agenda has been influenced: A national movement has been
generated in favour of the children’s rights, which considers their needs and their
cultural setting has been created.
● Using local languages for communication materials means that a large proportion
of the population is reached: Since 1997, the project has published material
for the staff of the Municipal Child Ombudsman Offices, and for other groups working
in social services. The material focuses on three areas of content:
● Childrens' and adolescents' rights
● Drug abuse prevention
● Day-to-day management of Municipal Child Ombudsman Offices.
● Frequent staff turnover due to lack of work stability causes low motivation,
and blocks the capacity-building and continuity of the work process: High staff
turnover is a general problem in Bolivia at the national, departmental and municipal
levels. However, with international support, the Bolivian Government is in the process
of implementing institutional reforms focusing on reducing the high turnover among
employees in the public sector.
● Committed and well-qualified staff is needed to maintain the network: It is
common in many communities that several different actors - NGOs, private health institutions,
churches - will be working in the same social development areas. The
Municipal Child Ombudsman Offices have frequently taken on the role of co-ordinating
the work of these different actors. This requires commitment and dedication on a professional
and a personal level; work in the social sector can be very demanding, and
the wages paid by most of the Municipal Child Ombudsman Offices are very low.
● Municipal Child Ombudsmen Offices, especially in rural areas, lack access to
human and financial resources; but local authorities give low priority to this
function of their municipal Government: In areas with scarce resources and little or
no tradition of social work, it is often considered unnecessary to allocate funds to such
activities, especially preventive work. This problem should be regarded in the context
of other pressing health, education and infrastructure needs which the municipalities
of the country must confront independently, according to the 1996 Laws of
Decentralisation and Popular Participation. The experiences of the project have shown
that, once a municipality has opened an Municipal Child Ombudsman Office, the
population tends to protest if the municipal authorities attempt to close it again.
“This project has
generated a national
movement to view
children and
adolescents as
positive and
valuable assets.”
● A step forward in the institutionalisation of children’s rights has been
achieved: The opening of the Municipal Child Ombudsman Offices has taken place at
the same time as a modernisation of the country's legislation on childrens' rights - for
example, the recently-passed Code for Children and Adolescents. This general trend
implies that the Ombudsman Offices have been used to institutionalise children's rights
throughout the country's municipalities.
● The concept of prevention as a child’s right: Human rights offer a framework for
conceptualising and responding to the causes and consequences of public health
issues. Young people have a right to information, education, recreation and an adequate
standard of living. Each of these elements reduces the chances of young people
going on to abuse drugs. Conversely, drug use by young people may have a further
negative effect on the extent to which their rights are respected, protected and fulfilled. 1 75
Sources: 1 Gruskin S, Plafker K, Smith-Estelle A. ‘Understanding and Responding to Youth Substance Use: The
Contribution of a Health and Human Rights Framework’. The American Journal of Public Health, December
2001, Vol. 91, No.12.