EveryChild
4 Bath Place
Rivington Street
London
EC2A 3DR
T +44 (0)20 7749 2468
F +44 (0)20 7729 8339
Peru
Country Overview
Peru is a country rich in resources, but political instability and widespread corruption have hampered its ability to meet the needs of its most marginalised and vulnerable. Over half the population lives in poverty, the maternal mortality rate is unacceptably high and unemployment is increasing. Of the 3.8 million people living in extreme poverty, over 2 million are children (source: Unicef).
Women, ethnic minorities and those with special needs face severe discrimination. Violence and abuse, particularly within the household, are widespread, and malnutrition and poor hygiene, especially in the countryside, pose serious threats to children's lives. The most vulnerable live in city slums or isolated rural areas and are excluded from mainstream society. They are denied access to basic services, employment and their right to participate in decisions which affect them.
Often the poorest families leave their homes in the highlands to try and eke out a living in the city. Faced with high unemployment and poor housing, they simply find even more hardship. Struggling to survive in the slums around the cities, parents are forced to put their children to work. Unable to go to school, children roam the streets begging or looking for work and are very vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
What are the key issues?
- Child labour
- Limited access to healthcare and education
- Child violence
What is EveryChild's main focus?
- Child abuse and maltreatment
- Education
- Community development
- Violence and abuse within the family
How is EveryChild helping?
In a very male-dominated society, Peruvian women and children are often discriminated against. We organise family camps where we raise awareness of the importance of the role of the father, as well as the mother, in raising and protecting children.
To help stamp out child abuse we set up School and Communal Defence Committees to monitor and apress all forms of child abuse (especially physical maltreatment) in schools, homes and on the streets. We train community facilitators to enable the Committees to report abuse cases to the police and mediate with vulnerable families.
We have also trained staff on child protection legal issues. As part of this campaign, bus and taxi drivers in Lima were taught how to recognise and report incidences of child abuse that may have occurred in their vehicles. We are also involved in a larger campaign, with other like-minded non-governmental organisations, to declare the physical maltreatment of children illegal.