The ongoing political and social crisis and the economic recession that followed the Covid-19 pandemic have increased poverty levels in Peru. It is estimated that monetary poverty in the country will continue to rise from 28.9% in 2023 to 29.2% in 2024.

This situation is particularly disastrous for the country's health and education systems. In 2022, UNESCO warned that "Peru is experiencing an unprecedented educational crisis and calls for prioritizing our children and adolescents". According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) of May 2023, 42.4% of Peruvian children aged between 6 and 36 months suffered from anemia, and a particularly high proportion of children in the Puno region were affected by iron deficiency in their blood (67.2%).

Goals

To improve the living conditions of vulnerable children and their families in the Puno region, one of the poorest in Peru, based on 5 pillars: family stability, education, health, nutrition and (self-)employment.

Activities

Projects activities may include:

• Accompany families, by offering psychological therapy, securing housing or improving housing conditions;
• Reinforcing the academic performance of minors through alternative academic programs, helping prepare for university or technical college applications, and offering scholarships for higher education to adolescents in need;
• Ensuring access to health services for children and families, including mental health services;
• Ensure adequate nutrition, including education on healthy eating, provision of food baskets and monitoring of children with a certain level of malnutrition;
• Encourage the creation of jobs or self-employment activities, by providing vocational guidance, encouraging training, and providing interest-free loans;
• Salaries of social workers.

MYRIAD CANADA is working with the Asociación Alumnos del Perú Chucuito on this project, a Peruvian non-profit organization registered since 2011, which support children and their families with limited economic resources in the Puno region, one of the poorest regions of Peru. The organization currently has two branches, one in Chucuito-Puno and the other in Ñaña-Lima.