Pan de Libertad: an innovative proposal in the Female Detention Center of Obrajes

CAF -development bank of Latin America- the Semilla de Vida (SEVIDA) (Seed of Liberty) NGO, and the Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, signed a technical cooperation agreement to promote the Seed of Life initiative, seeking to create a social and productive reinsertion model by investing the time of the imprisoned population and the improvement of the life conditions in the Obrajes Female Detention Center (COFO, for its acronym in Spanish) in La Paz.   

Bread of Liberty seeks to contribute with specific actions to the prison crisis is Latin America, considerably exacerbated in the past decades and characterized, in particular, by high levels of violence, violation of human rights, overcrowding, and reoccurrence. 

The lack of an effective implementation of rehabilitation programs and absence of activities, and the lack of activities focused on the emotional and human rescue of individuals has been an additional problem of the prison crisis.  For this reason, CAF participates with a model that combines the economic and human needs through the development of bakeries, patisseries, and knitting,in parallel to the psychological support and sexual and reproductive health services for the women in the center. 

The initiative has the support of the Fundacion Nuevo Norte with respect to the knitting component, due to its trajectory in the productive sector, its innovative and entrepreneurial vision, and its commitment with small and medium-sized artisans in La Paz. The alliance will allow the women to obtain quality products that may be placed in the national and international artisan market, and improve their life conditions and those of their families.  

Ana Mercedes Botero, Director of CAF´s Social Innovation Initiative, highlighted that "the innovation of the model lies in the fact that it creates a productive labor force which in principle is not productive given its imprisoned condition, and in the potential of being a model for other penitentiary centers in Latin America". 

Emilio Uquillas, CAF´s Director Representative in Bolivia, pointed out that "the program may be used in other prisons in the country through diverse productive activities that may be adopted as part of the public policies regarding the social reinsertion of the imprisoned population. Uquillas finalized by saying that "It is an innovative proposal with challenging social policies and specific solutions". 

At the same time, Hernan Gonzales, Social Responsibility Manager at Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, commented that the project becomes an entrepreneurial instrument to work to benefit a vulnerable population, adding that "it is an inter-institutional initiative that enables investing in human beings, restoring their rights and providing better life conditions". 

Rosario Alarcon, Director of the Fundacion Semilla de Vida SEVIDA, stated the importance of revaluating the social and economic conditions of women who are deprived of liberty. She pointed out that "The personal histories of each woman are particular, and the criminal act does not represent the whole being of a woman". 

The signature ceremony included Sergio Unzueta, Finance and International Affairs Vice-President, Raul Juan Carlos Massud Añez, General Director of the Penitentiary System, and Ignacio Treep, Project Manager of Fundación Nuevo Norte.