Bolivia

February 2017: Bede met with GVA mission. Had heard nothing about the declaration nor the upcoming conference. Said Bolivia has a very small mission and therefore usually only follows the issues that directly apply to it, but that children’s rights is an important issue for Bolivia.

March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools. Ambassador expressed interest in receiving more information. GCPEA (Cristal) emailed information and Patricia Erb (Save Canada CEO who is Bolivian) followed up.

April 2017: GCPEA sent a letter to the Foreign Minister.

May 2017: Follow up email sent by GCPEA. Embassy replied to say that they had shared information with capital and received no response.

June 2017: Zama had a meeting with the representative of the Mission in New York. It was positive and quickmeeting. He wants a letter to his PR Sacha Loranty asking Bolivia to sign.

July 2017: Zama tried to set up meetings with ministries in La Paz but no response.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use and to endorse the Declaration during the Open Debate on children and armed conflict.

October 2017: GCPEA had a positive meeting with the newly-arrived expert in Geneva, who pledged to share the information with capital. GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a copy of the Open Debate letter.

February 2018: In advance of OPAC turns 18 event, GCPEA issued letter highlighting that Bolivia has signed OPAC, Paris, and Vancouver, but not the Declaration, and calling for endorsement.

February 2018: Human Rights Watch (Zama) met with the Mission of Bolivia in Geneva. The expert suggested the GCPEA should issue a letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, which was issued.

June 2018: Zama met with the expert in New York who was positive. She advised that advocacy from UNICEF and UNESCO would be helpful.

July 2018: Bolivia welcomed the Safe Schools Declaration in their statement at the UNSC open debate on children and armed conflict. They also drew attention to the situation in Palestine. Human Rights Watch reached out to the Mission of Palestine who contacted Bolivia to encourage endorsement. The expert in the New York Mission remains positive about the possibility of an imminent endorsement. UNICEF will issue a letter. Human Rights Watch published a dispatch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/10/time-bolivia-join-safe-schools-declaration. Bolivia co-sponsored UNSCR 2427 which includes an encouragement to take concrete measures to deter military use.

July 2018: Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).Mentioned and welcomed the Safe Schools Declaration during the statement to the SC open debate on children and armed conflict.

August 2018: Sent an email to the mission in Geneva requesting for a meeting. No response.

September 2018: UNICEF is submitting a letter (drafted by GCPEA) to Bolivia to encourage the government to announce endorsement by the time they host the Women, Peace and Security debate in late October.

October 2018: Gisela met with the Deputy Permanent Representative and her First Secretary. They would endeavour to include the issue of attacks on education at the UN WPS open debate. Keeping girls in school is a national priority for them. They saw no reason why Bolivia could not endorse the Declaration. However, since they are not in conflict, they are having difficulty getting the issue prioritised in capital. The DPR responded well to the suggestion that they could announce the endorsement during the High-Level Segment of the open debate. Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister and gender recommendations sent by email.