Arlington, VA - June 6, 2005
Tinker Foundation has awarded a $120,000 grant to SID to help return Bolivia to stable democracy and governance. News of the award came on June 3 while National Director for Bolivia, Abraham Borda, and Program Director, Paul Gruber, were visiting foundations in New York City.
The project is titled, "Improving the Implementation of Bolivia's Democratic Reform, Beginning the Implementation of Bolivia's Rural Development Reform." Over two years, SID will work in Pucarani and Viacha to increase citizen participation in municipal decision-making and will implement a new policy of organizing regional projects to assess markets and increase farmer income.
To increase citizen participation, SID will organize meetings of community representatives to discuss and select public works projects, prepare operating plans and budgets, and supervise the implementation of projects.
To implement the government's new rural development policy, SID will prepare detailed registers of buyers at market, organize meetings between farmers, producers' associations, and buyers, help farmers create business plans to increase sales, and assist farmers in carrying out these steps.
SID will disseminate the results of the project to policy-makers, donors, and service-providing organizations through semi-annual workshops.
This grant comes at a significant and difficult time for Bolivia. We feel it is exactly the right time to help a struggling country harness and make good on its democratic and economic potential.
