2 February 2017 - Today, the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia and UNODC signed the
UNODC Country Programme for Bolivia 2016-2020. This new programmatic framework consolidates and deepens UNODC's technical and legal assistance in the areas of (1) coca and comprehensive development as well as (2) health and drug control. It further expands cooperation in (3) prevention and fight against crime and organised crime, (4) prevention and fight against corruption, and (5) criminal justice reform.
UNODC's Deputy Executive Director, Aldo Lale-Demoz, arrived in the country on 1 February for a two day mission with the primary objective to sign UNODC's programmatic framework 2016-2020 for Bolivia and hold a series of high level meetings with representatives of the Bolivian government, the international community and the UN System. The Country Programme was developed through an extensive dialogue process between the government of Bolivia and UNODC. Over the course of more than one year, national counterparts identified products and services with a high added value in assisting the country reaching its priorities in the areas under UNODC's mandates.
The Country Programme has the overarching objective to strengthen the capacities of the Plurinational State of Bolivia towards preventing crime and responding to the interconnected threats of drugs, organised crime and corruption. Its implementation will contribute to reaching the objectives set in Bolivia's Economic and Social Development Plan 2016-2020, its Patriotic Agenda 2025, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. It is the first time that the Plurinational State of Bolivia and UNODC formally sign a Country Programme.
The Country Programme's indicative budget is $22 million, of which $9.5 million are already financed. These 43 per cent of the overall budget partially fund UNODC's assistance in coca and comprehensive development, health and drug control, prevention and fight against corruption, as well as penitentiary reform. Currently, the European Union, Sweden, Bolivia, Germany, Denmark, France, Austria and Spain contribute funding to the Programme.
In coordination with the government of Bolivia, UNODC developed a fundraising strategy for assistance in comprehensive development, prevention of drug use and treatment of drug use disorders, prevention and fight against crime and organised crime, as well as criminal justice reform. Some concrete initiatives include technical assistance against human trafficking, a holistic national crime study for the design of evidence based public policy, establishment of a container control programme, and technical and legal assistance to combat forest and wildlife crime like illegal logging.
