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U.S. Agency for International Development

December 2007 USAID Communications Office: (591-2) 2786585 US Embassy Press Office: (591-2) 2168222 http://bolivia.usaid.gov

 

 

SUPPORT TO SANTA CRUZ

Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Government has a comprehensive assistance program that supports the Bolivian Government’s National Development Plan. Bolivia is a leader in sustainable forestry management. The assistance of the United States government helps many indigenous communities and enterprises draw on the potential of Bolivia’s rich forestry resources to produce value-added exports, generating sustainable jobs and well-being  for the population

Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg visits a USAID peanut project in Samaipata.

Through its official foreign assistance agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Government supports development in 50 municipalities in the department of Santa Cruz. Projects seek to reduce poverty through economic growth generated by enterprise development and increased productivity; improve access to health care for the poor; and strengthen democratic processes and institutions. USAID programs create opportunities for marginalized populations, promoting their social, political, and economic inclusion. 

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE POPULATION

In Santa Cruz USAID complements the efforts of municipalities by supporting business development and microfinance. USAID helps businesses with export potential to take advantage of market opportunities, gain market access and generate sustainable jobs. This support has resulted in approximately $2.7 million in exports to the U.S. and Europe in manufactured goods and textiles/apparel alone, resulting in new jobs and new investment. The technical assistance focuses on improvements in productivity and quality. By linking these firms to markets, USAID supports better jobs and incomes for the poor.

USAID also supports financial institutions and credit unions through the introduction of innovative and expanded services reaching more clients. During 2007 two new financial branches were opened with USAID support in peri-urban areas outside of the city of Santa Cruz.

Working with the Valleys Foundation (Fundación Valles), small farmers’ associations and local governments, USAID supports the Government of Bolivia’s National Development Plan in 13 municipalities in Santa Cruz, improving the production of hot chili peppers, peaches, peanuts and onions. Using new technologies and organic certification to increase efficiency and improve quality, Bolivian farmers and their families are accessing new niche markets, growing their businesses, and increasing incomes.

IMPROVED ACCESS TO JUSTICE

USAID supports democratic institutions, including Bolivia’s justice system.  Since 2004, in areas where social conflict is fairly common and governmental presence is limited, USAID supports the Government of Bolivia in the establishment and operation of Integrated Justice Centers providing legal aid and similar services to the urban poor. In July of 2005, and with the support of the British Embassy, USAID inaugurated a Justice Center in Plan 3000, one of the most important peri-urban centers of the city of Santa Cruz. Additionally, and in coordination with the Government of Bolivia, USAID funded a center for victims of domestic violence, also in Plan 3000, while another Justice Center has been built in Yapacaní. In addition, USAID supported the establishment of a Client Attention Platform in the Santa Cruz Superior District Court. The objective of the Platform is to strengthen transparency and facilitate access to services in the courts to improve confidence in the judicial system. USAID is also working in the municipality of El Puente on a project benefiting approximately 500 families that promotes conflict prevention through community development, land titling and the financing of small-scale productive activities.

INTEGRATED ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Since 2003, USAID has supported critical road infrastructure in the Yapacaní municipality. Every year more than 130 km of Yapacaní roads are improved or maintained for the benefit of over 3,000 families. 

IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF BOLIVIANS

USAID seeks to improve the health of underserved Bolivians by increasing access to quality health services through the strengthening public and NGO health facilities and networks. Our program supports the Ministry of Health’s policy of extending services to rural areas, with a special focus on family and community health.

USAID's Community Health Project (CHP), implemented by Bolivia's largest NGO health network, PROCOSI, supports improved maternal-child health and the prevention and control of infectious diseases through support for community health workers and health promotion activities in 17 rural municipalities of Santa Cruz. The CHP will reach an estimated 400,000 inhabitants of Santa Cruz with health promotion and education activities over the course of the project. The housing improvement component of the project is financed jointly by the departmental government, municipalities and USAID, and will support the reconstruction of houses to help protect families against the Chagas disease. Santa Cruz is the headquarters of long-time USAID partner PROSALUD, which has 14 clinics in the city of Santa Cruz and one in Puerto Quijarro. PROSALUD, with the largest network of private health service providers in the country, conducts over 500,000 consultations nationwide each year. In addition, PROSALUD has provided technical assistance to NGOs in a number of Latin American countries to help them adapt and apply PROSALUD's model for sustainable private-sector health care delivery. USAID also supports CIES, an organization that specializes in reproductive and maternal-child health, which has two of its nine centers in Santa Cruz and Camiri.

EFFECTIVE DEPARTMENTAL GOVERNMENTS 

As it does worldwide, USAID is providing technical assistance in basic institutional strengthening and training to all nine of Bolivia’s departmental governments to help them assume more effectively their new roles in planning, financing, and delivering services to citizens. In Santa Cruz, USAID support helps the prefecture deconcentrate basic services to lower levels.

ENVIRONMENT 

Bolivia has 2.2 million hectares of certified forest, and USAID supports sustainable forestry development activities to help communities profit from this great potential. Conservation activities aim to protect the Amboro National Park through educational campaigns, strengthened local capacity, and sustainable income generation for over 5,000 families.  USAID has helped 5 of Santa Cruz’ municipalities to put 1,758,450 hectares of forest land under sustainable management.

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

In 2006 and 2007, in close coordination with Bolivian authorities, the United States government provided around $1 million in humanitarian support in response to severe flooding affecting hundreds of families in Yapacaní and other areas of Santa Cruz. Support has continued with the 2008 flooding, with USAID assisting 55 communities in 6 municipalities through the provision of tents, hygiene kits, plastic water containers and mosquito nets.

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For further information please visit the USAID/Bolivia website: http://bolivia.usaid.gov