Spain pledges $28 mn a year in aid to Bolivia

Spain’s Aecid foreign aid agency announced here Monday that it will allocate 25 million euros ($28 million) annually until 2021 for projects in Bolivia.

During a meeting with reporters, Aecid’s coordinator in Bolivia, Francisco Sancho, highlighted the areas that will be part of the “work plan” in the coming years.

Sancho said that one of the “biggest” areas will be sanitation, which includes the construction of infrastructure for potable water systems.

“Bolivia does not have treatment plants, and those it does have are operating at low capacity and with very outdated technologies,” he said, advocating for the construction of a modern facility in the Altiplano region to serve as a benchmark for the entire country.

Another important area will be to “address specific issues” in the field of governance and combating violence against women and children, he said.

“We will continue working along the line of heritage, culture and development,” Sancho said.

As part of an initiative completed last year, Aecid worked on restoring and rebuilding colonial-era churches and Jesuit missions in various parts of Bolivia.

In the health sector, the priority is to keep providing aid for the basic care system while at the same time training specialists in areas such as pediatrics, internal medicine, surgery and anesthesiology.

“Bolivia is building hospitals, but many don’t have specialized human resources. This has to change,” said Sancho.

Aecid allocated more than 186 million euros ($209 million) in the 2011-2017 period.