How social innovation transforms life in Bolivia’s prisons

The authorities of the Ministry of Government and the National Directorate of the Penitentiary System were presented a social enterprise model implemented at the Female Orientation Center (COF) in Obrajes, which after three years has proven to be successful, sustainable and replicable, while showing that social innovation can transform lives in prisons.

The Pan de Libertad project, led by CAF-development bank of Latin America- in partnership with the Mercantil Santa Cruz Foundation and the Semilla de Vida Association (Sevida), is an innovative social enterprise model co-created with the inmates and in partnership with Bolivian authorities, which mainly focuses on striking a balance between financial and non-financial benefits for the inmate population. In other words, this enterprise model generates income based on a productive strategy through knitting and baking, and additionally–through the sale of products–, offers services that improve the living conditions of inmates at the COF. Additionally, the inmates are trained in skills that allow them to reintegrate decently in society after they leave the detention center.

The presentation was attended by Carlos Romero Bonifaz, Minister of Government and José Luis Quiroga, Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Plurinational State of Bolivia; CAF Secretary-General, Victor Rico, CAF representative in Bolivia, Gladis Genua, and Director of Social Innovation Ana Mercedes Botero. Other attendees included Hernán González, Manager of Corporate Responsibility at Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, and Rosario Alarcón and René Estenssoro, directors of Sevida.

The authorities, in particular, CAF Secretary-General and the Minister of Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, welcomed the initiative, stressing the importance of implementing a different model with an in-depth and efficient approach to meeting the needs of the inmate population and their families, which is also a high-value initiative that can be escalated and replicated in other prisons across the nation.

Since its inception in 2015, Pan de Libertad has trained more than 200 women as bakers and confectioners, who learned how to make more than 32 different products. They also learned knitting and received assistance in marketing two collections under the OUT social brand. It is noteworthy that proceeds from the social enterprise co-financed medical and psycho-social care of inmates, as well as the provision of medicine, and medical/lab tests, which contributed significantly to the human and emotional rehabilitation of the inmates.