Human Development in Bolivia Report: 2002

CONTEXT:

Since 1985 Bolivia has enjoyed solid macroeconomic stability and has recovered positive economic development levels since the decade of the eighties.   Since the end of the nineties, important foreign economic actors (financial groups in utilities, mining exploitation and petroleum industry) have increased their wealth and influence on the Bolivian economy.  The construction of the pipeline to Brazil, the discovery of great natural gas reserves and the energy crisis form scenarios in which natural gas will have an important role in the Bolivian economy.

In social terms, great advances have been made, strongly narrowing social gaps with relation to regional averages.  Likewise, efforts have been made to improve educational services (Educational Reform) and to promote a more equalitarian distribution of public resources (Popular Participation).

In the political field, Bolivia has experienced relative political stability, considering that since 1982 five democratically elected governments have succeeded each other and that important institutional/political reforms have been promoted tending to the modernization of the State and the improvement of the political representation system.  This is mainly owed to the political pacts among parties entered into since 1985.

On the other hand, there are important political action capabilities in Bolivian society; this means that the citizens have: confidence in institutions, willingness to listen to the other or opposed and build agreements, civic involvement, high levels of interpersonal trust and active participation in social organizations, as well as an important degree of commitment with the country.

However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the tasks pending are still great:

In the first place, Bolivia still shows important social lags in relation to the quality of life and social inequalities existing among regions, ethnic groups and between men and women.

Secondly. Although political-party pacts have allowed a period of almost fifteen years of stability, there are evidences of their limitations to accompany Bolivian democratic development.  This is due to the persistence of patrimonial and patronage practices in politics and the administration of the State.

Thirdly, political action capabilities are restricted due to the unequal distribution of said capabilities.  This means that cooperation and agreement among political and social leaders and between society and its leaders has become increasingly difficult.

The set of factors noted above contributed to a 2000-2001 context that was characterized by a deep economic crisis and a growing questioning of the results obtained by Bolivian democracy.  This panorama is made more serious by the growing social conflicts reflected in April and September 2000 events, and in the rupture of certain basic political consensus that underpinned reforms in the eighties and nineties. 

In this context, the Human Development Report in Bolivia: 2002 posed the following question: What will Bolivia look like in the first decades of the twenty-first century?