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UNFPA and Bolivia's Development Goals
Family planning is one of the
most effective ways to reduce poverty. Having fewer
babies leaves mothers healthier and better able to care
for their children. It also means more available resources
for each child’s health, nutrition and education. Bolivia
is making progress: the total fertility rate fell from
4.8 children per woman in 1994 to 4.0 in 2000. Still,
this figure is much higher than the average number of
children Bolivian women say they would like to have,
2.5, indicating a significant unmet need for family
planning. The prevalence of couples using modern contraceptive
methods was only 26.1 per cent in 2000, and was three
times lower in rural areas. Increased UNFPA support
is urgently needed to help reduce poverty with better
family planning education and services.
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In Bolivia,
the female illiteracy rate is more than double the illiteracy
rate for males. Girls are far more likely to drop out
of school than boys, especially in rural areas. Violence
against women is common and persistent. And women too
often do not have control over their fertility, contributing
to both high maternal mortality and the persistence
of poverty.
Gender equality
is fundamental to all facets of human and social development. When women are educated and empowered, poverty is reduced,
fewer mothers die as a result of pregnancy-related complications,
and children receive better education and health care.
UNFPA focuses on advocacy to raise the status of women
in Bolivia, particularly the indigenous. It promotes
the rights of women to gain control over their relationships
and their lives. And it encourages male participation
and acceptance of changed roles and of equal responsibility
for the well-being of their partners and families.
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Bolivia’s maternal mortality
rate is the second highest in Latin America. More than
40 per cent of pregnant women experience some type of
complication during pregnancy or childbirth and 15 per
cent experience serious complications which might put
their lives at risk. This is partly because basic health
care is not accessible to large parts of the rural population
- largely due to difficult terrain - and nearly half
of all births are unattended by skilled personnel. Unwanted
pregnancies, particularly among the young, are another
leading contributor to maternal mortality. Pregnancy
is riskiest for younger mothers, and it is estimated
that more than one-quarter of all maternal deaths are
due to complications arising from unsafe abortions.
UNFPA works to lower maternal mortality by helping to
expand prenatal and emergency obstetric care, and by
promoting family planning - to reduce unwanted pregnancy
and to help women plan and space the pregnancies they
do want.
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Too many children in Bolivia die
before the age of five. Child mortality is
even higher among indigenous populations. UNFPA needs
more resources so it can help expand reproductive health
care in the remote rural areas where the indigenous
usually live. Family planning, including the provision
of reproductive health information and services to young
people, is also key: babies born to very young mothers
are more likely to die, and fewer children means better
health care for each child. Reducing maternal mortality
also reduces infant mortality, as a mother’s death increases
the risk that her children will die.
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