Private-Public Partnership Helps El Alto's Unemployed
The Office of Transition Initiatives/Bolivia program promotes peaceful participation and stability in El Alto and other marginalized communities and increases access to balanced information on issues of national importance. OTI also expands economic opportunity by supporting short-term, community-based activities in distressed areas. In response to Bolivia's ongoing political crisis, OTI is working closely with the transitional government to meet critical needs and help the country prepare for elections. OTI's implementing partner is Casals & Associates. The budget in fiscal year 2004 was $6.3 million and in fiscal year 2005 is $5.5 million.
Steady migration from rural areas makes El Alto one of the fastest-growing cities in Latin America. But high rates of unemployment and poverty have left its expanding population prone to crime and conflict. Recognizing both the challenges faced by El Alto and the potential of its citizens, USAID is working with the mayor's office and the local business sector to link the city's unemployed to export-oriented job opportunities.
Textile manufacturer America Textiles (or Ametex), a Bolivian firm and El Alto's largest exporter, has a significant need for sub-contractors that can produce final products for its designer-garment business. Unfortunately, few businesses in El Alto, which borders on the capital of La Paz, have the machinery or capacity to provide this service. In response, the municipality developed a plan with America Textiles to train unemployed Alteño women to embroider garments in new production centers, and requested the help of USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) to get the initiative off the ground.
OTI approved a $28,000 grant to convert two warehouses provided by the municipality into a production facility. The funding paid for 60 workstations, sewing equipment, uniforms, and computers for tracking production and managing the operation. OTI support for this public-private initiative has helped 252 women from the community-based organization Club de Madres form a new micro-enterprise called "Nueva Esperanza," or A New Hope.
The textile exporter has agreed to purchase up to 30,000 embroidered garments each month from Nueva Esperanza, which it will then ship to designer-clothing outlets in the United States. But the clothing exporter is only the first firm to draw on the talents of the women of Nueva Esperanza. Steady income from this initiative will allow this association of working women to expand its production capacity and tap new demand in the international marketplace through other export-oriented firms that need this type of embroidery work. OTI is now working with the mayor's office and Clubs de Madres to build on this pilot project and equip as many as eight new production centers in Bolivia's "export city."
This initiative is part of OTI's efforts to help El Alto re-establish itself as a growing economic center and encourage tangible responses, rather than political protests, to meet people's demand for jobs.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Amy Frumin, LAC Program Manager, 202-712-4231, afrumin@usaid.gov