Territorial economic development

In Bolivia, Tarija’s authorities requested UNDP’s ART to support and orient the elaboration of a public-private partnership to facilitate agreements and the prioritization process in relation to the Department’s productive sector. The Governorate and UNDP set in motion a productive development and employment generation strategy, establishing and strengthening a public-private space supported by Bolivia’s FP: the Departmental Working Group, also called « Private-Public Alliance for Tarija’s Productive Development », was established to plan a strategy agreed upon in a participatory way. The platform facilitates the articulation between local, departmental and national policies and among the various initiatives of private actors and civil society. The strategy is focused on several intertwined areas: support for the implementation of local development projects, territorial competitiveness and LED aimed at social cohesion, employment generation and poverty reduction, and support for a productive development and employment generation strategy with a focus on territorial planning and multilevel articulation at the local level. 

In Ecuador, the Programme supports the implementation of the national transformation policy for the productive sector at the territorial level, through the creation of an agro-industrial eco-park in the province of El Oro. UNDP is also coordinating the platform for the implementation of the joint project “Youth, Employment and Migration”, which has contributed to inclusive development through the generation of 1,134 entrepreneurship opportunities for youth (570 of which are led by women) and financial and non-financial assistance to 1,479 youth (of which 1,142 are young women). Eighteen local financial entities and three Local Economic Development Agencies were strengthened as part of this process so they can offer their services to local youth in the provinces of Carchi, El Oro and Loja. Moreover, a system to support entrepreneurship and local economic development was developed. A key result of this strategy is the change from the National Programme of Popular Finances to the National Corporation of Popular and Solidary Finances, signaling a shift towards a more socially-sensitive, solidarity-based economic model, which has now become a national priority. 

 

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¹ For more information on Tarija’s experience: http://issuu.com/pnudartbolivia/docs/tarija_2025