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Paper prepared for presentation at the "ANNUAL WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY" The World Bank Washington DC, April 23-36, 2012. With the 2009 Constitution (CPEB), Bolivia has recently adopted a new regulatory framework that recognizes individual and collective property entitlements, secures land access for women, promotes citizen voice in public policy, and encourages accessible mechanisms for land use, planning, and registry. However, within this promising scenario, female residents in District 9 of Cochabamba City do not feel empowered to act on the new Constitution's promises of enfranchisement, and see authorities apathy as an obstacle to accessing urban land and property entitlements. "Improving Access to Urban Land and Property Entitlements for Women and Excluded Families in Bolivia" is a project that presents an approach to improving this situation by engaging communities, and particularly women head of households, to use their voice through a women's platform to influence policy on secure tenure. It also encourages coalition-building between NGOs, women, and experts to audit policy change and fosters gender sensitive collaboration to guarantee integrated urban policies on land planning, secure tenure, and adequate housing. More gender-sensitive, transparent and accountable land governance is expected to liberate women of the burdens and threats of power imbalances, and to contribute to equitable growth and poverty reduction, as well as to implementation of the Constitution. On 2010 a Women's Network on Secure Land Tenure (WNSLT) was established; on March 29, 2012 the WNSLT presented a Gender Sensitive Proposal on Land and Property Rights in the Plurinational Assembly and the Vice-Ministry of Housing; recently an agreement has been signed between a CSO and the local government to gather evidences to inform land policy, and to strengthen local authorities capacities on planning, mainstreaming gender.
