Peru | Development and Peace

Peru

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Our Program

Development and Peace has been working in Peru since 1967 and its current program is aimed at countering the discrimination and social exclusion experienced by Peruvian society’s most vulnerable members, in particular the indigenous peoples of Amazonia.

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“We wish that mining companies would consult us directly, and that the benefits go not only to the mining companies and the government, but also to the communities, which need it the most.” Arturo Castro, village leader of Cruz Pampa, near Huancayo in Peru.

The program supports advocacy activities calling for responsible mining, compensation for people negatively impacted by mining activities, proper relocation, access to medical care, and support to these front-line populations in their efforts to defend their rights.

The issues we work on to build justice:

Peace icon

Peace

Natural resources icon

Natural resources

Democracy and citizen participation icon

Democracy
and citizen participation

Ecological justice icon

Ecological justice

Equality between women and men icon

Equality between
women and men

 

The situation

Peru, the third largest country in Latin America after Brazil and Argentina, is crossed by the Andean mountains. Nearly half of Peru’s population is indigenous. The country’s economy is based mainly on the exploitation, processing and export of its natural, agricultural and marine resources, with these activities providing a living for the majority of the population. 

Following the election of President Ollanta Humala in 2011, the country adopted a new law on the right to prior consultation, which stipulates that communities must be consulted before any extractive activity is introduced on the territory where they live. This particularly applies to mining, oil and gas projects conducted most often by international companies. 

However, a recent easing of the rules, aimed at reassuring investors, has caused an outcry within the general population and the communities affected.

 

News
September 3, 2019

The Amazon rainforest, which is critical to the earth’s ecological balance, is going up in flames. Supporting those who defend it is now, quite literally, a burning need.

What happens when the lungs of the Earth are on fire
August 27, 2019

The Amazon forest, which provides 20% of the oxygen we breathe, is burning in front of our eyes. As Development and Peace-Caritas Canada prepares to launch its new campaign, For our Common Home: A future...

Pope Francis visit to the Amazon
April 9, 2018

One month after the historic visit of Pope Francis to the Peruvian Amazon, the Spanish-born Bishop of Puerto Maldonado, David Martinez Aguirre, is still running on the energy high.

Emergency response helps Peruvian families DEVP
August 9, 2017

Relief efforts supported by Development and Peace are making a difference in the lives of 3,643 families in Peru affected by torrential rains and flooding...

November 9, 2015

The organization LABOR, which is one of our partners in Peru, focuses on initiatives related to gender, family, ecology and culture, as well as on ensuring that the activities of mining companies respect the rights of communities. For nearly 35 years, LABOR has actively contributed to improving the living conditions of the residents of Cerro de Pasco, a high-altitude mining commmunity.

December 10, 2014

It seemed a million miles away from the melting glaciers, the eroding deserts and the shrinking forest frontlines of the international battle against climate change.

Arturo Castro, leader of the community of Cruz Pampa, a village that will be displaced by a mining project.
October 31, 2013

Near Huancayo in Peru, several communities will be affected by a major phosphates mining project that is spread out over 27,700 hectares.

February 20, 2013

It is appropriate that this year World Day of Social Justice falls during our Share Lent campaign - a moment where we celebrate our commitment and solidarity towards building a just world. Social justice touches on questions of rights, human dignity and solidarity. It is also deeply connected to questions of ecological justice and respect of natural resources with regards to their management, conservation and justice.

February 13, 2013

The Andean mountains dominate the landscape of Peru. Yet, hidden behind their rugged beauty is a growing bleakness, as many communities that live high along those peaks are experiencing the environmental and social impacts of mining concessions. Currently, more than 13% of Peruvian territory has been given out in concessions, and generally without the consultation of communities.

February 13, 2013

Mining is one of the most dangerous forms of labour in the world. It involves toiling away deep underground in dark, cramped spaces where the air is dank and humid. Dynamite is frequently used to loosen rocks in which minerals are embedded. According to the International Labour Organization, miners form only 1% of the global workforce, yet account for 8% of fatal accidents at work.

Archbishop Barreto
October 12, 2012

Archbishop Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, Archbishop of Huancayo in Peru, has been nominated by the Pope to the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace at the Vatican.

Polluted water in Cerro de Pasco caused by local mine
October 12, 2012

A sign at the entrance of the town of Cerro de Pasco reads, “Welcome to Cerro de Pasco, the highest city in the world.”

October 11, 2012

The road from Lima to Huancayo, in the central Highlands of Peru, is a dusty and graffiti-streaked highway that climbs, at first slowly, out of a grey, mist-shrouded Lima. It is flanked by settlements of poor neighbourhoods, where pastel-coloured ramshackle houses are precariously perched on the mountainside, looking down on to a four-lane highway.

October 5, 2012

Yesterday, I flew to South America to attend a workshop that is being organized by CIDSE, and the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), along with a number of Latin American civil society organizations, on how transnational corporations can be more vigilant with respect to human rights – i.e.

July 10, 2012

"The government is mistaken if it thinks that with bullets, torture and punches it will control the just demands of Cajamarca. The president shouldn't just defend investment. He should defend the fundamental rights of Peruvians."
- Marco Arana, environmental campaigner

Five citizens have been killed and a former catholic priest injured by police and temporarily detained – all in a context of social unrest around a proposed operation of the US mining giant, Newmont in Cajamarca, northern Peru.

Archbishop Barreto of Huancayo, Peru
March 14, 2012

On March 2nd, 2012, Archbishop Pedro Jimeno Barreto of Huancayo and his team, received anonymous death threats for opposing the re-opening of a US owned polymetallic smelter in the city of La Oroya.

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