by Virginie Emery

18 November 2010

La Paz, Bolivia: After a year collaborating as a UNV volunteer intern in the area of education at departmental and municipal levels with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Sucre, Bolivia, I had the opportunity to continue with my commitment as a volunteer. I now serve as an international UNV volunteer Specialist with UNDP’s ART (Articulating Territorial and Thematic Networks for Human Development) GOLD Bolivia Program.

The main objective of the ART Program is to improve the efficiency of joint work and its impact on the living conditions of the population. It is an initiative that provides the central government and the territories with a methodology to ensure articulation of plans and priorities.

The ART Program proposes a structure with work groups at different levels led by a local authority, dealing with, among other things, participative strategic planning for the territory, local, national and international articulation of the institutions in accordance with the established priorities, and tracking of the program and project implementation in the framework of the strategy. The current Bolivian context with departmental, regional, municipal and indigenous autonomous processes, poses a challenge for the Program. But there is also the opportunity to be a part of this reconstruction of the country’s processes, including the redistribution of the roles of several actors from different social or thematic sectors.

The interesting thing about this initiative is that it puts forward a flexible tool that will only make sense completely once public authorities as well as civil society and private sector actors own it and adapt it to their vision and context.
As a UNV volunteer, I am responsible for supporting the implementation of the Program and the Work Groups in the Department of La Paz. I work directly with the Government, in the office of the Departmental Work Group, which allows me to understand the context, thus reducing the cooperation-counterpart distance and clarifying the role played by each actor in this great challenge.

The ART Program places emphasis on the local/territorial level as the most strategic for sustainable and integral development planning. For the volunteer this means the opportunity to work in an environment that includes team work, strengthening of existing capacities in leading actors, and the creation of synergies and partnerships among territories, etc. You are part of the daily activity where real human and professional exchange happens, making it possible for us volunteers to put ourselves at the disposal of those responsible for the future of the territory and its population.

On the other hand, although work at the local level and in direct coordination with local actors is very enriching and relevant, it is also complex due to the dynamics of each organization, the concept of time, and the various ways in which people communicate.

In a local environment, we should constantly apply, question and perfect not only our technical knowledge, but also our human capacities, such as empathy, cultural sensitivity and humility, among others. In this sense, I really value the Program’s team in La Paz, formed by two UNV volunteers, one international and one national, which allows us to jointly overcome challenges, share points of view and sensitivities, always from the spirit of volunteering for local human development.