Oxfam's work in Peru in depth

Oxfam has been working in Peru for more than thirty years. Currently, we focus on:

Human rights

Oxfam supports a number of long-term initiatives aimed at the empowerment of poor Peruvian citizens. Oxfam’s work in this area is focused on building accountability. We support grass-roots Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in undertaking monitoring projects focusing on public policies and programmes, such as the National Food Assistance programme. We are also supporting similar activities, organised by local governments in rural areas, to develop participatory planning, transparency in public management, and accountability.

Oxfam supports the Red Perú, a group of about 150 "mesas de concertación". They typically bring public authorities and representatives of social organisations together, generating a process of local consultation. Oxfam also works with the Asociación Nacional de Centros, the national network of NGOs, to support the National Conference on Social Development, the major space where representatives of Peru’s civil society groups meet.

Over the next five years, Oxfam has received funding from the UK Department for International Development to develop and manage a programme aimed at ensuring access to human rights for poor people. Of the US$10 million allocated to the project, US$6.5 million will constitute a fund for the support of locally-managed projects, based in the Andean region of southern Peru, to promote poor people’s ability to exercise their basic rights.

Sustainable livelihoods

In rural areas, this developing programme will focus on the national agrarian policies affecting small-scale producers. By focusing on producers’ access to productive assets, and on their ability to produce and market their products, this programme is intended to ensure that poor people have increasing power within markets. In Lima, a future urban programme will support strategies intended to create sustainable livelihoods, building on the experiences of several major urban NGOs with which Oxfam has worked for many years. In addition, Oxfam will implement a programme aimed at the improvement of working conditions for women in key economic sectors, such as agro-export.

In each of these areas of intervention, Oxfam GB works closely with the other members of Oxfam International currently working in Peru: Intermón, Novib, Oxfam America, Oxfam Canada, and Oxfam Solidarité. This coordination has been particularly focused around humanitarian response to the June 2001 earthquake in southern Peru. It has also been important in Tambogrande, where the struggle between civil society, industry, and the government has become a symbol of the struggle of thousands of citizens to have their views taken into account in public decision-making on issues affecting their lives and livelihoods.

Last updated: June 04