In Peru, as in many countries, social, economic, and cultural inequalities limit young people's ability to play a leading role in defending their right to decent work. Public policies do not seek to bridge the gaps that discriminate against young people: in other words, young people's voices are not heard and their territorial context is not taken into account.
Internal migration, job precariousness, loss of culture, mental health issues, frustration, demotivation, unemployment, climate crisis, informality, environmental pollution, rising cost of living... these are all problems facing young people today, and the YCW wants to provide a response.
Alarming figures on youth employment
Peru is a country where young people are the age group with the worst official employment statistics. They represent just under 25% of the population, but an estimated 85% of them work in the informal sector. Seven out of ten suffer from professional mismatch, meaning that there is no correlation between the work they do and their vocational or technical training. The unemployment rate among young people is 11.5%, three times higher than that of adults. Nine out of ten young people who are self-employed work in informal conditions, earning less than the minimum living wage. Approximately 1.3 million young people aged 15 to 29 are “NEET” (not in education, employment, or training).
Representative action in the field of education and youth employment
The Peru YCW aims to promote dignified living and working conditions for young workers by actively participating in the development, implementation, and monitoring of education and youth employment policies.
It began by organizing regional seminars to gather information on different realities and identify common situations and needs in each region. Together, participants developed proposals aimed at consolidating the demands of their grassroots communities for access to decent jobs and to SSE (social and solidarity economy) with an egalitarian, territorial, participatory, and cultural approach.
This action was taken to RED INSPIR Peru to join forces and build a common agenda.
Next, articulation with other youth organizations took place to give visibility to the proposals and bring common demands to other instances. Forming alliances in networks is essential to having a voice.
The movement is developing advocacy processes with civil society organizations (youth councils, ATO Colibrí, MML, ANC, UNFPA, INSPIR, MANTHOC, etc.), in participatory and political decision-making spaces (National Youth Secretariat - SENAJU, Roundtable for the Fight against Poverty - MCLCP, regional youth councils, Congress of the Republic, Ministry of Labor, etc.) and among the population (students, workers, teachers, farmers, office workers, etc.).
Changes outside and inside the movement
The action of JOC Peru not only has an external impact— stronger networking, recognition of JOC Peru's focus (youth, territoriality, and diversity) in bodies such as the Roundtable for the Fight Against Poverty and SENAJU, and active participation in regional or provincial youth councils—but also an internal one – recognition of the crisis in the system we live in and the need for change; growing awareness of the need to form alliances, mobilize, and raise our profile; questioning of other normalized situations: mental health, gender equality, and environmental violence; creation of community spaces: organic gardens, libraries, learning circles, among others.
YCW groups have launched 10 SSE initiatives (decent work), 4 environmental projects, 1 education project, 1 health project, and 1 citizen participation project (decent life).
The example of JOC Requena
In the community of Requena (Loreto), YCW members concerned about the pollution of their rivers and streets are developing various community activities to mobilize their neighbors and involve local authorities. With an increasingly strong environmental awareness, they have promoted the practice of solid waste segregation and the use of composting techniques in small gardens.
Their SSE project is a community organic garden where they grow vegetables for their own consumption and for sale in the local market. It provides decent work opportunities for the YCW community based on the promotion of sustainable economic practices that respect the environment, making it a local benchmark.
And now...
JOC Peru wants to incorporate all grassroots groups into youth councils in their regions or provinces, in order to expand networks of allies and young people. It also wants to encourage more young people in local communities to get involved and strengthen the movement's visibility and social and political impact.
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