Goal: To protect vulnerable populations from the impacts of climate change through joint WASH and nutation interventions
Summary/Activities: Bolivia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly in terms of drought, flooding and melting of mountain ice. A recent analysis carried out by Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina (CAF), Bolivia was ranked as having a “very poor adaptive capacity” to climate change, leaving populations even more vulnerable. Bolivia has already begun to experience the effects of climate change in the form of increased food insecurity; droughts and water scarcity; frequency and severity of natural disasters; number of forest fires and spread in vector borne diseases (MOPSV, 2016). In 2015 it was estimated that 48 out of Bolivia’s 339 municipalities suffered from flooding, while 45 municipalities suffered from drought. Among the worst affected populations are indigenous women and children. UNICEF is working with the Bolivian Government to strengthen the coordination and operationalization of the national emergency WASH cluster and the development of two National Emergency Plans; one for WASH and one for nutrition. Staff from the Ministry of Health have also been supporting with training on the prevention, response and recovery from disasters. At the community level, UNICEF is also supporting:
• Participatory risk mapping related to WASH and nutrition
• Strengthen community post-disaster resilience, particularly in terms of re-building WASH systems
• Promoting key hygiene practices (including handwashing) and including more highly nutritious food types within children’s’ diets
• Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) training (including aspects of climate change) for community health promoters who then pass on this information to the communities in which they work. Training and community sensitisation materials have also been developed.
• Mass communication campaigns including; banners and signboards, radio slots and videos

More info: https://www.unicef.org/about/annualreport/files/Bolivia_2016_COAR.pdf http://www.unicef.org.bo/wash.html