COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS COMPLETES REVIEW OF THE INITIAL REPORT OF BOLIVIA

CESCR
25th session
3 May 2001
Morning






The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning wrapped up its consideration of the initial report of Bolivia on how that country is implementing the rights and guarantees provided in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

A Government delegation, answering questions raised by Committee members, spoke about a wide range of topics, including child labour and the Government's battle against cocaine production.

The delegation told Committee Experts that there were many child workers in the rural areas. But those were children who both went to school and helped their families with work.

A bad tradition in the country, the delegation said, was children who were given to certain homes to carry out domestic work. Fortunately, that practise was gradually disappearing. In the last 30 or 40 years, it would have been difficult to find a rural home without these child domestics. But the Ombudsman for Children had implemented policies, increased awareness, and had told the population that this type of exploitation should end. These were children who had been abandoned by their parents. The Government was trying to guarantee health and education for these children.

The delegation described the Government's battle against cocaine production. In the 1980s, the State had begun to eradicate cocoa growing and drug trafficking. The Government engaged in this because it could not live without dignity, and it could not justify actions of drug dealers because of poverty. The value of the cocoa leaf was known. When farmers grew cocoa leaves for drug dealers, there was a situation where the farmers' trade unions became protectors of the drug traffickers. Cocaine perverted the youth, and increased the crime rate.

There was an alternative development programme which tried to replace illicit economic activity, the delegation said. Bananas and pineapples were substitutes, but Bolivia wanted to also focus on tourism. The Government did not want more money from the United States -- it wanted the United States to buy the products that replaced the illegal products which had formerly been smuggled to that country.

The Committee will offer its conclusions and recommendations on the report of Bolivia toward the end of its three-week session, which concludes on 11 May.

When the Committee meets at 3 p.m., it will be briefed on plans for the upcoming World Conference against Racism, and will continue to work on a draft statement on poverty.



Discussion

Answering questions posed by Committee Experts, the delegation said the greater instances of child workers were in the rural areas. These children went to school, and then they worked. They actually worked with their families. A new law had been passed that focused on the protection of minors who worked. Bolivia had serious financial problems in implementing the law.

Children who were given to certain homes to carry out domestic work were part of a bad tradition that, fortunately, was gradually disappearing, the delegation said. In the last 30 or 40 years, it would have been difficult to find a rural home without these children domestics. But the Ombudsman for Children had implemented policies, increased awareness, and had told the population that this type of exploitation should end. These were children who had been abandoned by their parents. The Government was trying to guarantee health and education for these children.

There was a national association for domestic workers, the delegation said. It helped guarantee the workers received compensation, paid vacation leave, and it also helped regulate the working hours. The Government wanted domestic work to be considered a legitimate economic activity, and for it to be regulated by the State.

There was child labour -- many shined shoes, cleaned cars, and sold cigarettes and sweets. But they went to school in the evening -- there were different shifts for schools. There had been isolated cases of child prostitution, but they were punished. Prostitution was illegal in Bolivia. This situation existed in many countries, even rich countries.

The delegation described the Government's battle against cocaine production. In the 1980s, the State had begun to eradicate cocoa growing and drug trafficking. The Government engaged in this because it could not live without dignity, and it could not justify actions of drug dealers because of poverty. The value of the cocoa leaf was known. When farmers grew cocoa leaves for drug dealers, there was a situation where the farmers' trade unions became protectors of the drug traffickers. Cocaine perverted the youth, and increased the crime rate.

There was an alternative development programme which tried to replace the illicit economic activity, the delegation said. Bananas and pineapples were substitutes, but Bolivia wanted to also focus on tourism. The Government did not want more money from the United States -- it wanted the United States to buy the products that replaced the illegal products which had formerly been smuggled to that country.


The Government, the delegation said, was looking at parks and eco-tourism. There were efforts, like the forestry law, to conserve areas of wildlife, and to keep away oil exploration. The timber industry had diminished, and the country had lost revenues because of it. But the Government had decided that it was much more advantageous in the long-term to protect the environment. There was a national park, which totalled 800,00 hectares. It was one of the largest in the world.

Bolivia was an under-populated country, the delegation said. It wanted the population to grow, and it could do so through immigration. Family planning information was provided by the Government. It provided free pre- and post-natal coverage. Contraceptives were distributed for free. But there was no policy of the State to control the birth rate -- that was the decision of mothers. Abortion was legal.

On accidents at work, the delegation said the Government knew it had to legislate more. New forms of production and new technologies had create new dangers. The introduction of petro chemicals required new protections for workers. New policies had been established by the labour inspectorate in which discussions would soon take place with workers concerning their safety. This was the first step toward arriving at agreements. Bolivia wanted to be seen as a country where dialogue took place.

The delegation said the Government had been reforming the educational system for the past six years with the help of the World Bank. There were attempts to make education multi-lingual with Spanish and the indigenous languages.

Municipalities were now responsible for the maintenance and building of schools, the delegation said. The World Bank controlled a fund for school construction.

With respect to the school attendance rate, the delegation said that in 1952 there had been a significant revolution that had created free and universal education. The entire population had access. In the rural areas, there were schools and teacher's colleges, but there were problems because many teachers did not want to return to their communities to teach. The Government, and the municipalities, were making efforts to encourage these teachers to return to their native areas.

The education of rural women was a problem, the delegation said. Often, parents would enroll boys in schools, but not girls. Both boys and girls were frequently taken out of school to work on the farms during certain seasons. There were agreements with schools about this phenomenon.

There were areas in the country where there was no electricity, and thus there were no television stations there. But radio was important because they could run on batteries. Radio stations did have educational programmes. Bolivia had Latin America's largest rate of radios per capita.

There was film production in Bolivia, the delegation said, and there was no censorship of films. Bolivia was promoting traditional indigenous knowledge, especially in plants. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), of which Bolivia was a Member State, was currently holding seminars on the subject.


Concerning the right to food, the delegation said it was not true that people died from hunger. The food was very low in calories and poor in quality, but rural populations ate what they grew. Cattle was raised, but they were not eaten because the cows had to be sold to make a living.

The child mortality rates had fallen drastically, the delegation said. Training was provided to teach mothers how to feed their children.

There was no significant increase in the status of HI/AIDS, the delegation said. There were no more than 200 cases in the country. Campaigns had been launched to educate the public about the virus.



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