Results around the world – Peru
Peru is a middle-income country that has experienced remarkable socioeconomic growth over the last two decades. In parallel with this economic growth, poverty rates have declined from 56% in 2005 to 20.7% in 2016. Unfortunately, this trend is not guaranteed: in 2017, poverty increased at the national level.
In Peru, there is deep inequality at the regional level, and poverty remains extremely high in some areas. Women and girls, as well as indigenous people, are the most affected by poverty, violence, discrimination and lack of services. Extreme poverty (under USD $1.90 a day) is concentrated in rural, largely Indigenous areas.
Canada and Peru have a long history of development cooperation, and a positive relationship. The Peruvian government’s development priorities align well with Canadian priorities, placing special emphasis on good governance and civil service reform; protecting women and children against violence; and improving access to health, education and water for all Peruvians across the country.
Canada’s development program focuses on reducing poverty and inequality through an emphasis on sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate change resilience, inclusive governance, and economic diversification in rural zones. Canada supports human rights, including the full rights and empowerment of girls and women, in its programming.
The Peru program meets frequently with more than 30 partners on the ground regarding community priorities, and is a leader in the donor community, and with our partners, in promoting gender equality and the priorities of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy.
Through Canada’s $15.5-million contribution to the FORGE project, Canada has worked with the ministry of national education and the regional governments to develop a new basic education curriculum that meets international quality standards. The initiative benefited more than 8.7 million students enrolled in 2017 and promises to be of benefit to all students in the years ahead. In particular, Canada's technical assistance was instrumental in incorporating human rights, inclusion, comprehensive sexuality education and gender-equality considerations into the curriculum.
Canada has provided $19.6 million for the ProGobernabilidad project. This project developed the innovative Mama Program, which has improved the coverage of basic health services for more than 20,000 pregnant and postpartum mothers in three northern regions. Through the Mama Program, regional governments send essential information on prenatal and postnatal care to all pregnant women registered with the public health system, via free text messages. The Mama Program has won national and international awards, including a US$350,000 prize from Google.
Through Canada’s $12.4-million contribution to the FORMAGRO project, technical training on sustainable agriculture and animal production has so far shown a transformative impact. To date, over 1,110 families have received technical assistance in improved production techniques, and beneficiary families are now applying key sustainable methods in their farming practices. These successes have made it possible to develop 10 new value chains, which include organic legumes, kiwicha, honey, fertilizers, livestock, guinea pigs, fresh fruit and other fruit products, and dairy. Through this market growth, 3,867 people have newly joined the labour market, 115 business plans have been developed, and 257 women have commercialized their products.
Canada’s contribution to the PRODIVCOM project directly supports 4,000 family cooperatives, mainly in the agriculture and forestry sectors. To date, 997 women producers in rural areas have received training in basic accounting related to agriculture. Canada is working to increase Peru’s capacity to provide clean energy and combat climate change through a direct technical assistance project to the government for the development and implementation of clean energy
Canada is currently one of the most influential donors in Peru, and will continue to support the country’s forward momentum. Canada plays an important leadership role in the donor community and has led the gender-equality donor roundtable, known as MESAGEN, to advance and support dialogue and concrete actions related to gender-based violence. Through Canada’s leadership, MESAGEN has prioritized the issue of violence against women and girls, including through a national awareness campaign that reached over a million people. Furthermore, Canada sponsored and coordinated a widespread and successful GBA+ (Gender-based Analysis Plus) training for civil society and government partners. Canada is currently considering next steps to continue to support the Peruvian government as well as civil society partners to integrate gender-equality into their organizations.
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