Publication:
Bolivia: Challenges and Constraints to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (7.51 MB)
1,755 downloads
English Text (219.82 KB)
487 downloads
Published
2015
ISSN
Date
2016-03-02
Editor(s)
Abstract
This note aims to provide information and analysis as a basis for a better understanding of the challenges and constraints of achieving gender equality in Bolivia, with a special focus on the intersectionality between gender and ethnicity. Combining and analyzing existing evidence and new data, it seeks to document gender-specific disparities in development outcomes, highlight opportunities and constraints to women’s empowerment, and identify areas in which continuing knowledge gaps are particularly important to understand and address gender inequalities. The analysis in this note suggests that: there is important progress in development outcomes for women, in their access to services and to decision-making spaces; the intersection of gender and ethnicity deepens the gaps in some development outcomes in Bolivia; women feel discriminated against in different aspects of their lives, in particular indigenous women. Not having access to economic opportunities limit women’s agency; and while women with higher levels of agency are able to more fully take advantage of existing opportunities.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2015. Bolivia: Challenges and Constraints to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23829 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Inclusion Matters : The Foundation for Shared Prosperity
    (Washington, DC, 2013-10-18) World Bank
    Today, the world is at a conjuncture where issues of exclusion and inclusion are assuming new significance for both developed and developing countries. The imperative for social inclusion has blurred the distinction between these two stylized poles of development. Countries that used to be referred to as developed are grappling with issues of exclusion and inclusion perhaps more intensely today than they did a decade ago. And countries previously called developing are grappling with both old issues and new forms of exclusion thrown up by growth. Nonlinear demographic transitions, global economic volatility, shifts in the international balance of power, and local political movements have had a large part to play in these shifting sands. These changes make social inclusion more urgent than it was even a decade ago. This report tries to put boundaries around the abstraction that is "social inclusion." Placing the discussion of social inclusion within such global transitions and transformations, the report argues that social inclusion is an evolving agenda. It offers two easy-to-use definitions and a framework to assist practitioners in asking, outlining, and developing some of the right questions that can help advance the agenda of inclusion in different contexts. This report builds on previous analytical work, especially by the World Bank, on themes that touch upon social inclusion, including multidimensional poverty, inequality, equity, social cohesion, and empowerment. There are seven main messages in this report: (1) excluded groups exist in all countries; (2) excluded groups are consistently denied opportunities; (3) intense global transitions are leading to social transformations that create new opportunities for inclusion as well as exacerbating existing forms of exclusion; (4) people take part in society through markets, services, and spaces; (5) social and economic transformations affect the attitudes and perceptions of people. As people act on the basis of how they feel, it is important to pay attention to their attitudes and perceptions; (6) exclusion is not immutable. Abundant evidence demonstrates that social inclusion can be planned and achieved; and (7) moving ahead will require a broader and deeper knowledge of exclusion and its impacts as well as taking concerted action. The report is divided into three parts. Part one is framing the issues. Part two focuses on transitions, transformations, and perceptions. Part three is change is possible.
  • Publication
    Lao PDR - Mapping the Gender Dimensions of Trade : A Preliminary Exposition
    (Washington, DC, 2012-07) World Bank
    The Lao Government has also made important commitments to gender equality in both its national socio-economic development planning and in a number of international agreements. Through mapping the gender dimensions of trade in Lao PDR, this report aims to draw out key inter-linkages between a more open trade policy and gender. Recent export performance in Lao has been strong and mostly driven by hydro-electricity and minerals, which constituted more than half of all exports in 2010 and are predicted to grow even more in the next few years. To better understand the interaction between gender and trade policy, this paper presents a gender mapping exercise for export development in Lao PDR and in this regard presents simple recommendations on how to undertake this type of exercise. The paper is split in two parts: the first sketches out a simple methodological framework that can be used by researchers to do an initial mapping of the inter-relationships between export promotion/trade policy and gender. The second part of the paper is aimed primarily at policy makers. It uses the framework to provide a diagnostic which examines: 1) sectors in Lao with potential for export expansion that could benefit women; 2) gender-based constraints in these sectors which limit their expansion through trade; and 3) potential impacts for women, both positive and negative, from an increase in Lao's natural resource exports.
  • Publication
    Gender Dynamics and Climate Change in Rural Bolivia
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-11) Ashwill, Maximillian; Blomqvist, Morten; Salinas, Silvia; Ugaz-Simonsen, Kira
    The purpose of this report is to inform practitioners on gender dynamics in Bolivia as they relate to natural resource management and climate change. This is done to provide new knowledge for mainstreaming gender into rural development projects. The aim is to go beyond general gender assumptions and provide more detailed empirical knowledge on differentiated gender roles and the relative access of women and men to resources. The report will demonstrate that women and men in rural Bolivia have many different roles and opportunities, which are not equally distributed. The paper will also show that these roles are changing as a result of both general development trends and climate change. Further, evidence demonstrates that women and men experience vulnerability and adapt to climate change differently. As a result, rural development and adaptation strategies should integrate the relative capacities of women and men and respond to their particular needs. This will help avoid counterproductive out comes that widen gender gaps and allow for more sustainable, pro-poor rural development. This report will begin by introducing the methodology and case study regions. It will then examine in detail the specific roles of women and men in rural Bolivia. Next it will look at the gendered access to and control over resources and how gender roles, access and control are changing as a result of climate change. The report will finish with some general conclusions and specific recommendations for development practitioners in rural Bolivia.
  • Publication
    Gender-sensitive Approaches for the Extractive Industry in Peru : Improving the Impact on Women in Poverty and their Families
    (World Bank, 2011) Ward, Bernie; Strongman, John
    This book presents the results of the study 'New Approaches for Improving the Development Outcomes of the Extractive Industry in Peru: Improving Impacts on Women in Poverty and Their Families.' In recent years, large amounts of 'development assistance' in the form of infrastructure and social programs have been made available to communities across Peru as a result of the presence of extractive industry (EI) companies. These funds have come through corporate-managed social programs; royalties; the tax on EI profits, which is redistributed through the various canons; trust funds; and the voluntary contribution, which was recently introduced. With increasing extractive industry presence, and a decreasing supply of international cooperation aid to Peru, 2 as of 2006, funds from the mining canon alone outstripped international cooperation aid to Peru. While recent commodities fluctuations have reduced company profits, and therefore taxes, canon, and voluntary contributions by companies, these payments are still very significant and are greater than international cooperation aid. Although it is hard in the current international economic climate to make clear projections, funding resources originating from mining in Peru will continue to be key to the development of the poorer communities surrounding the mining operations. One important way in which EI companies and local governments responsible for administering the oil, gas, and mining canons could significantly improve their development outcomes would be to make sure that their development assistance approaches have a stronger influence on women-particularly women from poorer families, who are the least likely to be able to take advantage of the employment opportunities and other benefits offered by the company's presence.
  • Publication
    Country Social Analysis : Ethnicity and Development in Vietnam - Summary report
    (World Bank, 2009-01-01) World Bank
    This report " Country Social Analysis (CSA) " focused on ethnicity and development in Vietnam is a provocative analysis of marginality in contemporary Southeast Asia. It seeks to understand the macro social and political processes, and provides an analysis of how social, political, and cultural factors influence the opportunities and constraints to more equitable, inclusive development. This study provides research findings to support both the Bank's and the government of Vietnam's goals of social inclusion for ethnic minorities and poverty reduction. Previous studies, including the Bank's Country Partnership Study for Vietnam (CPS) and the government's Socioeconomic Development Plan (SEDP), focus on four organizing principles: (1) improving the business environment; (2) strengthening social inclusion; (3) strengthening natural resource and environmental management; and (4) improving governance. This study focuses particularly on the issue of strengthening social inclusion. Part one of this summary report is a literature review that discusses background information on ethnic minorities, including their classification, history, current living conditions, and poverty outcomes. Part two presents the results of field-based research and provides in-depth analysis of six fundamental factors that explain how differences between ethnic groups contribute to remarkably different livelihood strategies and economic outcomes. Part three summarizes the policy implications of research findings, suggesting areas for further consideration.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022
    (Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank
    The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.
  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2006
    (Washington, DC, 2005) World Bank
    This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    Argentina Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.