COOPI supports the Uru Chipaya indigenous people through women’s empowerment and the adoption  of new technologies to train young people.

The village of Chipaya is one of the eleven municipalities in Bolivia that officially adopted a form of government based on their own customs and traditions, becoming an “independent indigenous municipality”. It also has one of the highest vulnerability rates in the Country, where regular, cyclical floods alternate with droughts. Such conditions prompt temporary migrations, sometimes lasting over long periods, which lead to a progressive loss of both cultural identity and land management practices.

The project, funded by AICS, promotes the enhancement of ancestral knowledge of the indigenous minority Uru Chipaya (about 2,000 people). It does so through a multi-sector approach that includes land management and the defense and promotion of cultural heritage. It also aims to increase livelihoods in order to reduce socio-economic and climate vulnerability, ensuring opportunities for local development, gender- and generational equality. The promotion of human development is the priority of this intervention and it will focus on education, vocational training of young people through the use of new technologies, women’s participation and empowerment in entrepreneurial activities.