Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lima (Fides Service) -More than half of the population and 62% of the children in Peru live with a dollar a day, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme UNDP. What is more, 20% of the population lives in conditions of extreme poverty.
“It is estimated the 3 of every 4 children under 18 in rural areas lack even the basic necessities”, Doris Portocarrero, directress of Peru’s National Initiative Group for Children’s Rights told Fides
Peruvian society is a rich mosaic of different cultures, languages and ethnic origins but sometimes these differences are the cause discrimination for many sectors of the population including children and adolescents in rural and urban areas.
Social inequality in different regions is clearly seen by the infant mortality rate. Despite the fact that the infant mortality rate has dropped in recent years to a national average of 33% nevertheless 20,000 children die in the first year of life. The infant mortality rate is 24 per 1000 in urban areas and 45 per 1000 in rural areas.
One consequence of spreading poverty, we read in the note sent to Fides, is that “A 1993 census showed that in a decade child labour particularly in urban areas increased four times. In 1993 the economically active population aged 6 to 17 years was 497,032 units; in 1995, according to national report on living standards in the first three months the number of child workers was 1.4 million, with an increase of more than 900,000 units. In 1997 there were no less than 1.9 million Peruvian adolescents in the world of work. Today child workers are estimated to be more than 2 million”.
The type of work in which Peruvian children are involved is dangerous: 50.000 work in improvised mines, 100.000 in domestic work and about 8.000 work on the streets of the capital, Lima.
Although guerrilla fighting has ended, in the Andes mountains hundreds of communities still live under a military sort of rule of self defence committees which arm adults and children. According to established norms no one under 18 can be a member of a “Self Defence Committee” but it is known that boys of 13 to 17 are used in this means of local security.
“The leaders of these Self Defence Committees are quite willing to let the father’s place to be taken by sons who are agile and effective in self defence activity. There is no regard for the danger for the boys’ safety or mental health”.
It is estimated that at least 2 million boys and girls live on the streets of Lima and other large cities and that on the streets of Lima alone there are 8,000 child vendors
According to 2001 national survey on Population and Health 41.2% children in Peru suffer domestic abuse and 85% suffer psychological maltreatment, 22% of the cases of maltreatment of children, are questions of sexual abuse.
(RZ) (Agenzia Fides 23/3/2004 lines 54 words 612)
