Her name is Juana Benavides Mamani, she is an agricultural engineer with 30 years of professional experience in areas such as empowerment and development of adolescents and youth throughout the country. Her experience speaks of economic empowerment, rights, gender equality and inclusion. She is currently an officer of Plan International's Economic Empowerment Program.
She tells us that Plan works with three important projects in the country: the first is called "My First Entrepreneurship", which aims to help young people between the ages of 14 and 24 -mainly women- improve their job skills; the second project is "Opportunities to achieve dreams", which focuses on empowering young people to achieve their goals; and the third project is "Focus on rights".
The latter seeks to get organized adolescents and young people to contribute to the reduction of teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence in 10 municipalities in the country. It also encourages Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including adolescent and youth networks, to strengthen their capacity to organize and work in networks and influence decisions on sexual and reproductive rights.
We talked to Juana Benavides about all this and much more.
Juana Benavides: "We seek to support adolescents and young people in the management of entrepreneurship, from the identification of the project idea, training and business promotion".
Danitza Montaño (DM): What is Plan International's work in the country?
Juana Benavides (JB). Plan works with three projects, for example, one of them is "Opportunities to achieve dreams", which reaches 1,500 adolescents and young people in 6 municipalities, two of them in Tarija (Padcaya and El Puente).
The axes are: Development of technical-productive and personal capacities for entrepreneurship, granting of seed capital, technical and personal training, linked to labor intermediation processes and strengthening of public institutions to promote policies to support gender equity and equal economic and political opportunities.
In addition, we also teach life skills such as self-esteem, how to deal with violence, and tools for personal economic development.
DM: What is Plan International's major cross-cutting objective?
JB. The objective of Plan is to facilitate the employability process in terms of labor demand, it is necessary to know what the market wants, what demand is unsatisfied, in order to include it in the labor market.
We seek to support adolescents and young people in the management of entrepreneurship, from the identification of the project idea, training and entrepreneurial impulse.
DM. What is the work you do with Prometa?
JB. We are working under the umbrella of "Opportunities to achieve dreams". In the municipalities of Padcaya and El Puente the current situation of the labor market is unstable, so young people are venturing into different enterprises and productive and livestock initiatives.
Given the growth and importance of productive activities for families, Plan International and Prometa, in coordination with the Municipal Governments of El Puente and Padcaya and public and private institutions, developed in 2022 a productive training project called: "Opportunities to empower adolescents".
This program benefits 235 young people and its purpose is to satisfy the need for veterinary technicians, nutritionists and technicians in the management of production processes related to the raising of small livestock.
In these circumstances, we try to respond to a demand for training of the sector involved in the production of llamas, sheep and goats. To this end, we provide them with seed capital if they want to start a business, accompany them with a business plan and encourage them to sell on digital platforms.
DM: Do you have the support of the authorities?
JB. The role of the municipal governments is fundamental, agreements are generated, and the municipalities provide technical support by providing technical equipment to strengthen the face-to-face sessions.
Within this framework, we provide incentives in the teaching-learning process. For example, we provide two animals for genetic improvement to the student or the student with the best grades or give veterinary kits to make their first attentions.
Another fundamental point in this process is to consolidate exchanges of experiences between young people from urban and rural areas. The idea is to show other realities and share them.
DM: How have you managed to insert technology in the teaching-learning process?
JB. The project lasts until April 2025, it comes from positive experiences of a previous similar project, but there was a methodological change, because we adopted technological conditions such as platforms, cell phones, Classroom, WhatsApp.
In the groups we send digital training material directly to the cell phone, which can be used without being connected through a flash memory. If they use megabytes, they are returned to us. We give feedback in each session using different methodologies.
In addition to this, we combine the process with face-to-face attendance, so we organize face-to-face meetings, which are used to the maximum in terms of technical advice and the necessary practices.
DM: What is the theoretical content taught to adolescents and young people within this project?
JB. We have six teaching modules which are: Management and Breeding of small livestock (goats, sheep and llamas), reproduction and genetic improvement; animal health, nutrition and animal feeding; forage and native grassland management; and finally productive infrastructure.
DM: Is the gender approach important for Plan International?
JB. Totally, the purpose is to improve the quality of life of adolescents and young people with a gender focus, prioritizing the population in diversity (people with different abilities, etc.) 70% women. With all this we seek the economic empowerment of women. We work under this framework in enterprises with a population between 15 and 24 years old.
DM. As Plan International, what are the main problems you identify to achieve progress in gender equality?
JB. Machismo and patriarchy, which attribute marked roles, adultcentrism that does not provide opportunities for young people. Because of this, NGOs in recent times are focusing on adolescents and young people.
In this sense, we promote the formation of female leaders, creating leadership schools and providing support in employability, technical training, curriculum work, training in job interviews, and even advice on their labor rights.
The project provides veterinary training
Plan International's working approaches
Plan International has been working in Bolivia for more than 50 years, benefiting children, adolescents, young people and their communities. It is currently present in more than 700 communities in Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz, Sucre and Tarija.
Its mission is to increase the agency and transformative power of girls to lead change and exercise their rights in culturally sensitive, violence-free, egalitarian and inclusive environments.
To achieve this purpose, they have a strategy that addresses the problems faced by children, adolescents and young people at different stages and contexts of life. They have three programs: Develop for life, Decide and demand your rights, and Opportunities for the economic empowerment of young people.
Plan International has been working in Bolivia for more than 50 years, benefiting children, adolescents, young people and their communities.
All the projects that Plan International implements under these three programs are gender transformative, that is, they challenge gender roles and stereotypes, and empower girls, adolescents and young women to move towards gender equality; therefore, they address gender-based violence and the development of new masculinities for the construction of violence-free, inclusive and egalitarian environments.
The programs are also guided by a commitment to the protection and safety of children, adolescents and youth with a gender perspective. Plan does not tolerate any type of abuse or violence, particularly towards the children, adolescents and young people with whom it works or has contact.
In addition, the programs include a disaster risk management and resilience building component to guarantee the safety of beneficiaries in normal contexts or in those that represent disasters, social or political conflicts, epidemics, pandemics and other adverse events that modify the level of security of the communities.
Interview written by: Danitza Pamela Montaño Tococari/Environmental Journalist and Prometa Communicator