emphasis on children up to the age of two, as well as pregnant women in poor areas), aiming to arrest the vicious cycle of malnutrition that limits their physical and intellectual development. The Ministry of Health is charged with implementing the programme, using a multisectoral approach which recognizes the multiple causes of malnutrition and food insecurity. This will address all the factors that limit physical and economic access to food - including lack of nutritional information, the high prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases given the lack of access to safe drinking water, discrimination and the lack of access to land and other productive resources. In April 2006, the institutional framework for fighting hunger was strengthened through the establishment of an intersectoral coordinating technical body of the National Council for Food and Nutrition (CONAN), which brings together all the relevant Ministries. CONAN’s technical committee has made the promotion of the right to food one of its key priorities, elaborating new projects, such as the new draft Ley del Desayuno Escolar, to be implemented by departmental and municipal authorities. 37. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the efforts of the Government to attempt to redistribute revenues in favour of the poorest groups of society, including children and the elderly. The Government’s Supreme Decree No. 28899 of October 2006 set up a social programme called Bono Juancito Pinto which grants 200 bolivianos per school year to schoolchildren so that they can buy school materials. This programme aims to support poor families, allowing them to supplement their meagre budget to buy additional foodstuffs. It is reported that in 2007 this programme benefited more than 1 million children from over 13,000 schools. In addition, the Government recently approved the establishment of a social programme for the elderly, called Renta Vitalicia Dignidad, to be financed from the income tax from hydrocarbons. This programme aims to grant 200 bolivianos to each person over the age of 60 not currently receiving any type of pension. It is envisaged that the programme will reach approximately 800,000 persons. 38. The Special Rapporteur found that there was no comprehensive food security policy yet in place, but the Ministry of Agriculture has been charged with developing policies and regulatory legislation on food security and food sovereignty. The Minister of Agriculture informed the Special Rapporteur that there will be a new focus on food sovereignty. This will prioritize local production and will invest in small-scale family agriculture. The Minister believes that this will be the first time in Bolivia’s history that the Government’s efforts will focus primarily on small-scale agriculture, rather than on measures to support large-scale agro-industry. The Special Rapporteur believes that, given the importance of agricultural livelihoods to millions of Bolivia’s poor, this new focus will have a positive impact on the realization of the right to food for Bolivia’s small farmers. 39. In May 2006, the Government also launched a programme to revitalize land reform in Bolivia under the responsibility of INRA (Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria or National Agrarian Reform Institute). This will improve access to land for campesinos, communities and rural families. It will also give priority to eliminating the feudal practices of bonded labour (which still exist in the Oriente), as well as recognizing traditional forms of land tenure and restituting the lands of indigenous communities. The programme aims to speed up the process of land regularization to clarify existing land titles. In addition, INRA has been granted new powers to allocate existing public lands to landless campesinos, and to expropriate land for redistribution if this is unproductive and held for no productive economic or social use. 40. In June 2006, the Government also presented a new National Development Plan that is focused on reducing extreme poverty and inequality and redressing centuries of social exclusion and discrimination against indigenous peoples. The Plan sets concrete objectives, including reducing the percentage of the population living in poverty, from 58.9 per cent to 49.7 per cent and those living in extreme poverty from 34.5 per cent to 27.2 per cent by 2011, as well as reducing inequality. The minimum wage was also increased by 18.6 per cent to address extremely low salaries, although this is very difficult to enforce as 66 per cent of Bolivia’s workers are engaged in the informal sector. 41. The institutional and policy framework for access to water has also been substantially strengthened with the creation of the new Ministry of Water. Given widespread social protests against privatization, the establishment of this Ministry is seen as key for elaborating a coherent national water strategy, even though municipalities will retain responsibilities in their regions. A new National Water Plan has been elaborated and the Government has announced concrete objectives to ensure access to drinking water for 1.9 million people and sanitation for 2 million people by 2010. The framework legislation governing access to drinking water and sanitation currently being developed will explicitly recognize access to water and water services for human consumption as a human right. The new law will also set out mechanisms to regulate the quality of water and sanctions for water pollution caused by industry or mining. B. United Nations specialized agencies and bilateral assistance 42. The United Nations country team has also agreed in its development assistance framework (UNDAF) to support the Government’s Zero Malnutrition Programme and other programmes that promote the right to food within the framework of its support to food sovereignty.[34] A joint programme on malnutrition brings together WFP, FAO, UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and emphasizes nutritional education, supplementary feeding with fortified food and access to water, as well as promoting food security and food sovereignty. FAO is developing a specific programme to support the right to food. WFP is also providing emergency food assistance to victims of the recent floods and other emergencies and, in accordance with Government guidelines, 80 per cent of WFP’s food aid is purchased locally. The Special Rapporteur visited one impressive WFP and FAO programme which works with the municipality of El Alto on nutritional security, constructing family vegetable greenhouses, and promoting appropriate technologies that allow plants to flourish at an altitude of 4,000 metres, even in freezing winters. 43. Bolivia also receives important assistance from bilateral development agencies. Switzerland’s bilateral assistance programme for example, through the Swiss Development Cooperation, has made working with Bolivia a key priority and has dedicated CHF 26 million to a variety of programmes, including projects on food security and malnutrition. Cuba assists Bolivia through financing the building of 26 hospitals in the poorest regions. Cuban doctors have also been sent to assist thousands of poor Bolivian families who have not previously had access to medical treatment.