Promoting creative solutions from young citizens in Peru
Schoolchildren in Peru present solutions to community issues in November 2023. The initiative was part of an effort to improve democratic citizenship. Credit: International IDEA/Francesca Florián
As in other parts of the country, the district’s public spaces were abandoned and covered with litter. The students got the municipality to donate trees, organized a collective clean-up of the main park with their families and neighbours, and made them aware of the importance of maintaining public spaces.
The movement in Tambogrande took place in the context of the Toolbox for Democratic Citizenship project, led by
International IDEA, in alliance with the National Jury of Elections and Fe y Alegría. The project enabled high school students to identify challenges to be solved in their school communities. In doing so, the students prioritized issues such as democratic coexistence, the use of public spaces and management of their emotions.
In 2023, the project involved 75 teachers and 3,440 students at seven schools in Arequipa, Piura, Huánuco, La Libertad and metropolitan Lima. Guided by their teachers and involving key local stakeholders, the students generated project solutions to community problems.
Schoolchildren in Peru present solutions to community issues in November 2023. The initiative was part of an effort to improve democratic citizenship.
‘The project helped to form democratic citizens who get involved in the problems that happen around them. There are situations where they have had to talk to their families, interview neighbours or even authorities. They used to believe that citizen problems should be solved by adults, but now they realize that they can also contribute to these situations.’
| Funding | United States Agency for International Development |
|---|---|
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