Fundación Iguales and UN Women Forge Alliance for Women's Leadership in Bolivia

Fundación Iguales and UN Women have joined forces in Bolivia through a strategic alliance aimed at advancing women's leadership and ensuring equal opportunities. A Memorandum of Understanding formalizes this partnership, establishing a work agenda centered on four key strategic pillars. The collaboration seeks to foster greater female participation in decision-making roles across the country.

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The transformations most important occur when international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and public institutions work with a common purpose.

Andrea Llerena, the UN Women representative, emphasized that significant transformations occur when international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and public institutions collaborate with a shared purpose. She noted that this memorandum will drive concrete actions to expand opportunities for women, bolster their leadership capabilities, and expedite Bolivia's fulfillment of its gender equality commitments.

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Gender equality must cease to be understood as a discourse to become a development strategy.

Patricia Hurtado, president of Fundación Iguales, stated that gender equality should transition from a mere discourse to a development strategy. "Gender equality is not an abstract aspiration nor a communication strategy. It is a condition for Bolivia to leverage all its talent and strengthen its development. Societies do not change when their discourses change; they change when their decisions change," she asserted. Hurtado also highlighted economic independence as a crucial tool for reducing violence against women, but stressed that the fundamental change begins earlier, with girls accessing quality education, developing skills, and finding real opportunities to build their own life projects.

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Gender equality is not an abstract aspiration nor a communication strategy. It is a condition for Bolivia to leverage all its talent and strengthen its development. Societies do not change when their discourses change; they change when their decisions change.

The alliance's four strategic axes include promoting the implementation of the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) for businesses, developing research on female leadership and women's presence in the Bolivian business sector, strengthening the HeForShe movement in Bolivia to engage men as allies, and establishing a scholarship fund for women facing economic and social vulnerability. The initiative was attended by Patricia Parada, the first lady of Santa Cruz, who underscored the value of alliances that create real opportunities for women and girls, particularly those most vulnerable. She concluded that investing in female education, training, and leadership translates to stronger families, more prosperous communities, and a better future for Santa Cruz and Bolivia.

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Investing in education, training, and female leadership means investing in stronger families, more prosperous communities, and a better future for Santa Cruz and Bolivia.