POVERTY: Peru lifts over 4 million people out of poverty in 2005-2010

Lima, May 27 (ANDINA).

 Foto: Programa Juntos.
Juntos Program help poor people in Junin.
Poverty rates in Peru has decreased from 48.7 to 31.3 percent in 2005-2010, which means that over four million people have been lifted out of poverty, reported Friday the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
According to MEF’s 2012-2014 Multiannual Macroeconomic Framework (MMM) in the last years, Peru's national budget has increased significantly due to this economic growth and improving tax revenues.
Total poverty fell from 34.8 percent in 2009 to 31.3 percent in 2010, extreme poverty declined from 11.5 to 9.8 percent in the same period, while chronic child malnutrition rate fell from 18.3 to 17.9 percent, very close to the state government goal of 16% by 2011.
Last year, poverty reduction was higher in rural areas, from 60.3 to 54.2 percent.
This improvement is the result of a number of government initiatives in rural areas, such as, the National Program of Direct Support to the Poorest (Juntos) and increased investment in education and health, among others.
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MALNUTRITION: Peru nears goal of reducing child chronic malnutrition to 30%

 Children from Apurimac region, southern-central Peru. Photo: ANDINA/ Vidal Tarqui.

Lima, Dec. 14 (ANDINA). Peru is about to achieve its goal of reducing child chronic malnutrition to 30 percent in rural areas of the high Andes, said the president of the National Program of Direct Support to the Poorest (Juntos), Ivan Hidalgo.
“According to the Demographic and Family Health Survey (Endes), child chronic malnutrition (DCI) in rural areas of the country contracted 30.9 percent as of the first half of 2010, with which Peru is about to accomplish its goal set at the beginning of the current administration,” Hidalgo stated.
He recalled that in 2000, child chronic malnutrition stood at 40.2 percent and declined only 0.1 percentage points to 40.1 by 2005.
However, after five years and due to several factors including an economic incentive for the poorest families in the country, the current rate is 30.9 percent.
Good results can be largely attributed to the participation of the poorest families in the Juntos program, because there is a commitment of shared responsibility.
They are given 200 soles (some US$ 70) every two months and families must take children to their medical checkup and school.
http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/Noticia.aspx?id=uifu7Vn42Gk=