Right to Identity: Turning schoolchildren into citizens
Related pages:
Boliva
country profile | Related case study: How partnership opens airwaves for Bolivian youth
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Transforming partnerships in Bolivia
A DFID-funded project called Right to Identity is helping some of Bolivia's
poorest communities to gain vital ID cards, enabling them to vote for the
first time and access a range of social and health services.
A key part of Right to Identity involves supporting and influencing
 UNIR Bolivia,
and a consortium of communities and NGOs which are in turn helping Bolivia's
schoolchildren to play their part in Bolivia's future.
Targeting school-leavers
 Image courtesy of Tom Weller
Meet
the schoolchildren of District 8 in the sprawling city of El Alto. Thanks to
a series of training courses organised by
CEBIAE,
(part of a wider consortium of 700 civil society organisations), hundreds of
these schoolchildren are being educated about the benefits of claiming their
rights.
Teams of young facilitators - many barely out of their teenage years - visit
schools across Bolivia to speak with students who are about to leave school
about participating in elections and getting documentation. The students - most
of them from indigenous communities - learn
about the rights and services that documentation gives access to, and about the
dangers of not having it.
The idea is that by the time they leave school, either for work or further
education, they already have the card.
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Young facilitators raise expectations
 Image courtesy of Tom Weller
What
excites these facilitators the most is being able to help students get their id
cards. By participating in the consortium’s campaigns – they've been able to get
400 students registered for their ID cards in time for the elections held in
December 2005.
Elena - pictured left - described what they have achieved so far: "The students
who are registered to vote are very happy about it. They want to elect the
people that represent them and to express their opinion. There is a rise in
levels of interest and more expectation – they feel that their rights will be
respected".
How did they get involved? El Alto facilitator Roderigo (pictured top on
left-hand side) said:
"At a course organised by CEBAIE, we asked ourselves what was stopping us from
helping young people. So we became facilitators - doing this will also help us
when we go to university. These experiences will help us to understand subjects
like law better, and to understand people’s problems better.
"There is a lot to do in the city. Migrant families with their children come in
from the countryside and have no ideas what their rights are and what
citizenship means. They need training, and awareness – I see our role as
strengthening and supporting this work, helping people become aware of their
rights."
Bolivian
children's alliance (Spanish)
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Key facts:
- DFID is providing £350,000 to the Right to Identity project.
- DFID is in touch with, and provides training resources for, a consortium
of civil society organisations.
- We have also supported similar work in Peru to highlight the plight of
indocumentados
- NGOs like CEBIAE and CEBEN also train facilitators to travel throughout
rural regions to educate women about getting documentation and accessing
services
- DFID is working to enhance the effectiveness of key organisations in the
region and is supporting increased negotiation and dialogue between the
state and civil society. See our
Latin
America Regional Assistance Plan 2004-07
 (298
KB)
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