This 14 October the UN System in Bolivia, the Bolivian Ombudsman, the Catholic Church, Foundation UNIR, the Center for Participation and Sustainable Human Development (CEPAD) in Santa Cruz, and Foundation AVINA, launched a broad peace campaign.
The campaign, named "Convivir - Sembrar Paz" ("Let's coexist, Let's Sow Peace"), looks forward to recreating an atmosphere that enables the Bolivian society to mobilize and make a commitment for peace, a peace that makes possible the changes that Bolivia needs, but in a frame of respect for each other.
The creative director of the campaign is Bolivian filmmaker Marcos Loayza ("A Matter of Faith", "Jesus's Heart"), who has added up to his team tens of other filmmakers, artists, sports people, personalities and mass media. The first presentation was made in the morning. "Convivir - Sembrar Paz" was also launched during the playoffs football match between Bolivia and Uruguay played during the afternoon.
In the evening, the campaign was presented in the city of Santa Cruz, with a massive attendance of media. The event was broadcast live by five local and national television networks.
Marcos Loayza showed a series of products for this first phase: TV spots, press advertisements, radio jingles in four languages and a web page ("more than a webpage, it's a digital strategy", said its young creator, Sebastian Molina). All individuals or institutions who wish to commit their participation in "Convivir - Sembrar Paz" can register in numerous signature books or in the web page www.sembrarpaz.com.
The initiative came up after the tragic events in the northern department of Pando last September, when some 15 people died violently, and while the political talks held by the government and the opposition were imminently going to fail, leading to a period of violence. Ironically, surveys done for United Nations a few days previously, revealed that more than seven Bolivians out of ten of all regions demand the government and its authorities for a change, the peace for a change.