Peru - Combined second to fourth periodic reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant [2011] UNCESCRSPR 4; E/C.12/PER/2-4 (20 January 2011)

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Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Combined second to fourth periodic reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

III. Part of the report relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant 11–293 7

I. National provisions against discrimination in the field of economic, social and cultural rights 64

APROLAB Programme in Support of Vocational Training for Integration in the Labour Market

INDECOPI National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property

SEEUS Student Eyes and Ears for University Safety – external users’ dissatisfaction index

1. In fulfilment of its commitment in ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Peru hereby submits to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights a consolidated report corresponding to the second to fourth periodic reports on the measures, progress and current situation concerning economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR).

2. Peru is facing enormous economic and social challenge and tackling them is therefore a priority for the Government. These efforts are yielding significant results in some spheres, an example being the current reduction of poverty levels. However, the Peruvian Government remains conscious that much remains to be done to eradicate chronic malnutrition, improve public health indicators, raise the level of education – especially state education – and further reduce poverty indicators. The Government directs much of its efforts and resources to achieving these objectives. This is the framework for the Government measures described in this report.

3. This report has been drawn up in keeping with the Committee’s guidelines for the presentation of reports and focuses on the concerns expressed by the Committee in recent years.

4. Peru is a democratic, social, independent and sovereign Republic. Its government is unitary, representative and decentralized, being organized according to the principle of the separation of powers.^[1]

5. The 1993 Constitution recognizes the right of every person to participate in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the nation. Citizens also have the right to elect and be elected, to remove or recall officials by a legislative initiative or referendum^[2].

6. The possibility of insurgency is likewise regulated in article 46 of the Constitution, when it states that no one owes obedience to a usurper government or to anyone who assumes public office in violation of the Constitution and the law.

To what extent and in what way are the rights recognized in the Covenant not granted to non-nationals? What justification is there for any differences that exist?

7. The rights recognized in the Covenant are granted to non-nationals by constitutional and legal provision. Every person has the right to equality before the law and cannot be the subject of discrimination on the basis of origin, race, sex, language, religion, opinion, economic situation or any other reason. It is also prescribed that special laws may be passed when required by the nature of things, but not because of differences between persons^[3]. The foregoing is applicable to refugees.

What rights are covered in national legislation by specific provisions against discrimination? Please attach the text of these provisions.

8. Regarding the right to work, the Peruvian Constitution recognizes equality of opportunity without discrimination as a principle in the labour field, and various legal provisions exist in this regard^[4]. The right to education also contains provisions against discrimination^[5]. Non-discrimination with regard to ethnic and cultural identity is likewise recognized in the Constitution.

9. Mention should also be made of the regulations on consumer services and the standards concerning State governance and the civil service, which overlap with the provision of services related to economic, social and cultural rights. For more details, see the description of the standards in Annex I.

10. Reference should also be made in this connection to the substantial case law of the Constitutional Court, which has ruled on many cases relating to the right of non-discrimination on the grounds of sex or sexual orientation in areas such as labour relations, pension entitlement and education^[6].

Please provide information on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment in your country, both overall and in the way they affect particular categories of workers such as women, young people, older workers and workers with disabilities. Please compare with the corresponding situations ten and five years ago. Which persons, groups, regions or areas are considered particularly vulnerable or disadvantaged with regard to unemployment?

11. As a result of a strong increase in gross domestic product, the demand for labour by regular firms of ten or more workers in urban settings has expanded significantly (8.3 per cent in 2007) in practically all economic sectors. Nevertheless, despite the major increase in total and per capita real gross domestic product, the rate of underemployment (above all in terms of income) remained high (52 per cent of the total workforce), especially in rural areas where small subsistence farmers predominate.

12. It should be noted that some groups have greater difficulty in entering the labour market, such as disabled persons, women and young people. For example, over two thirds of disabled persons of working age are unemployed, i.e. are not working or seeking work, while unemployment rates among women (9 per cent) and young people (14 per cent) are clearly above the total unemployed rates (7 per cent) in Metropolitan Lima. On these figures and those in the previous paragraph, tables 1-12 of annex II and pages 87 to 105 of annex X are very useful.

Please describe the main policies applied and measures adopted to ensure that employment is available for all persons willing to work and seeking work.

13. The preparation of draft national employment policies^[7] was begun in 2007 by the National Directorate for Employment Promotion and Vocational Training (DPE), an organ of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion^[8]. The main policies include the following:

14. The Youth Employment Action Plan 2009-201, which is currently being developed by the National Directorate jointly with the International Labour Organization. This Plan is aimed at promoting entry or re-entry in the workforce and furthering the stability and quality of employment with the emphasis on sectors strongly reliant on youth labour.

15. The National Policy Guidelines on Vocational Training^[9], which are aimed at improving the quality of vocational training and upgrading the workforce^[10].

16. Local and regional governments have been made responsible for implementing the national guidelines in their respective jurisdictions, in coordination with regional labour and education authorities. This involves devising regional training policies and developing a regional vocational training plan^[11].

17. The Vocational Training Procedures Act was adopted on 24 May 2005, with the aim of: 1) promoting an appropriate and effective link between training supply and labour market demands; 2) furthering work training geared to production and service processes as a means to improving employment opportunities and labour productivity; 3) providing training that develops work capacities conducive to flexibility and adaptation to different labour situations^[12].

18. The regulations of the Vocational Training Procedures Act^[13] cover the following: work-based apprenticeships, apprenticeships mainly at vocational training centres, vocational practice, juvenile vocational training, traineeships, internships for teachers and professors, and updating for re-entry in the labour market (for the chronically unemployed aged 45 to 65)^[14]. In the period 2001-2008, there were 451,048 vocational training procedure agreements nationwide: 1,204 work-based apprenticeship agreements; 244,878 apprenticeships mainly at vocational training centres; 49,918 vocational practice agreements; 149,043 juvenile vocational training,agreements; 5,887 traineeship agreements; 4 internship agreements for teachers and professors; 5 updating agreements for re-entry in the labour market; and 6,427 SENATI dual apprenticeship contracts (2006).

19. The CIL PROEmpleo Network is the national employment service operating through a decentralized system of labour-market information, a job seekers advice service and a job placement centre. The network uses a software tool that records the effectiveness of its services.^[15] Its statistics for 2008 show that it placed 16,101 individuals in 1,883 firms and registered 39,252 job vacancies compared with 30,547 job demands. It also developed strategies for bringing firms and job seekers together through employment fairs. Five such fairs were organized in 2008.

20. All the CIL PROEmpleo Offices organized job seeker advice workshops on topics such as personal analysis for skills identification and job suitability, employment market information and drafting a résumé.

Please indicate what measures have been adopted to ensure that work is as productive as possible.

21. Occupational skills standardization is the process whereby the tasks performed by workers in the various sectors are identified, together with the criteria for evaluating these tasks and the work setting in which they are performed. This information is used to develop Occupational Skills Standards, which are those required for the successful performance of an occupational activity resulting in a quality product or service^[16]. The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion has in this way developed an agreed methodology for defining occupational skills standards for workers.

22. Occupational skills standards have so far been updated in the manufactures sector, these being in greatest demand by national and international markets. The tourism sector likewise has occupational skills standards, which have been developed by the Tourism Training Centre (CENFOTUR) with support from IDB (1999-2002). With resources from the European Union, skills standards have also been devised in the agricultural export sector. The business sector has participated actively in all these exercises.

23. In addition, instruments for evaluating the occupational skills of workers have been developed together with a methodology for designing curricula for the education sector, based on the aforesaid occupational skills standards.

Please indicate which provisions guarantee that there is freedom in the choice of employment and that employment conditions do not violate the individual’s basic political and economic freedoms.

24. The Peruvian Constitution stipulates that work is a duty and a right and that no one is obliged to work without pay or his/her her free consent, that is to say, everyone has the right to choose his/her work and to work freely, in accordance with the law. It should also be noted that Peru has ratified ILO Convention No. 122, which states that all Member States should declare and pursue an active policy designed to promote productive and freely chosen employment.

25. Act No. 26772 and its regulations, approved by Supreme Decree No. 00298-TR, provides that offers of employment and access to education facilities may not contain requirements that constitute discrimination or the cancellation or impairment of equality of opportunity. For more details, see table 19 of annex II.

Please describe existing technical and vocational training programmes in your country and their operation and availability in practice.

26. The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion is pursuing its efforts in this regard through the Vocational Training Centres (CENFORP) and the various sectoral programmes. The centres concerned offer training designed to develop practical skills and the necessary attitudes for working in a range of occupations in the various branches of economic activity. They do so through classes and workshops separate from the state education system and sponsored by regional government and enterprises. The Vocational Training Centres serve vulnerable sectors of the provincial population, especially rural sectors, by promoting work and self-employment training for communities, households, etc^[17].

27. According to available information, a total of 2,265 persons nationally, including 24 disabled persons, benefited from the Vocational Training Centres (Huancayo, Puno and Huaraz) between 2005 and 2007. (For more details, see table No. 13 of annex II). In the first half of 2008, the number benefiting was 706^[18].

28. The Programme in Support of Vocational Training for Entry in the Labour Force (APROLAB) is specifically aimed at realigning vocational training with market demands,socio-economic needs and national development potential. It has been implemented in Cajamarca, La Libertad, Ica and Ayacucho, with first-stage financing of 5 million Euros by the European Union and 1 million by the Peruvian State^[19].

29. The main purpose of the “ProJoven” Juvenile Training Programme is to facilitate access to the regular labour market by young people of limited financial means aged between 16 and 24. The programme covers Lima, Arequipa, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura, Cusco, Huancayo, Ica, Ayacucho, Tarapoto, Iquitos, Cajamarca, Juliaca, Huánuco and Puno. Overall gender equality is a feature of all the programme centres, which make no distinction between men and women. (Details of the recipients of the PROJOVEN programme are to be found in table 16 of Annex II).

30. With the aim of promoting greater awareness among firms of the need for proper management of human resources, the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion has developed and implemented the enquiry on human resource development, within the framework of the National Guidelines on Vocational Training Policy. This enquiry was undertaken for the first time in 2001 and again in 2007, when 783 firms were canvassed. The results revealed that 74 per cent of firms had trained their staff over the previous year, those with over 100 staff having provided most training (95 per cent). This figure, it should be noted, is higher than that recorded in 2001 (43 per cent)^[20].

31. With regard to future qualification and skill requirements and to the current difficulty of finding these on the labour market, the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion has developed and undertaken an enquiry into worker qualifications and labour skills from 2005^[21], with the aim of gearing training more closely to labour demands^[22]. According to this enquiry, the number of students enrolled in the Technical-Productive Education Centres in 2007 was 260,570, most of them in urban areas (96.4 per cent), while the number of teaching staff was 13,180 or 19 students per teacher, compared with one teacher for every 21 students in rural areas. In the case of the Higher Technology Institutes, the number of students enrolled was 357,958, the majority in urban areas (95.7 per cent), while the teaching staff numbered 26,006 or 13 students per teacher; compared with one teacher per 19 pupils in rural areas. For more information, see table 15 in Annex II.

Please specify if you have encountered special difficulties in achieving the goals of full, productive and freely chosen employment and indicate how far these difficulties have been overcome.

32. The National Directorate of Employment Promotion and Vocational Training has qualified staff, but there is a need to train our human capital in cross-cutting management areas. Skills need to be strengthened through instruction in the tools of public administration and policy design, in methodologies for organizing consultations and workshops, in formulating and evaluating public investment projects, in occupational analysis, in the management and development of human resources, in technical drafting for researchers, in administrative law, etc.

33. There is also a need for closer links between the different areas and with the Regional Directorates of Labour and Employment Promotion, given the current institutional fragility arising from the high turnover of human resources in many cases lacking the qualifications, experience and training required and provided by the central directorate to make the processes sustainable. The reluctance of some regional and local authorities to work in a coordinated manner should also be noted.

34. This situation is reflected in the present weakness in framing and implementing strategies in pursuit of the goals of full and productive employment, one of the groups most affected being vulnerable groups such as disabled persons, women and young people.

35. In this connection, discussion forums have been created to strengthen coordination and mutual support for employment promotion. Continuous staff training is also being promoted.

Please indicate whether there exist in your country distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences in legislation, administrative practice or concrete relationships between individuals or groups of individuals, on grounds of race, colour, sex, political opinion, nationality or social origin, which nullify or constitute obstacles to equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation. What measures are being taken to eliminate such discrimination?

36. As mentioned in response to question “1.d”, Act No. 26772 and its regulations, approved by Supreme Decree No. 00298-TR, provide that offers of employment and access to education facilities may not include requirements that constitute discrimination or the nullification or impairment of equality of opportunity. The Constitution likewise prohibits any kind of discrimination. In this respect, Peru has ratified ILO Conventions No. 100, on equal remuneration, and No. 111, on discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Please supply information on the current situation in your country with regard to vocational guidance and training, employment and occupation, by race, colour, religion and national origin.

37. The National Directorate for Employment Promotion and Vocational Training is responsible for coordinating the Vocational Guidance and Employment Information Service (SOVIO), which operates through the Regional Directorates of Labour and Employment Promotion via vocational guidance services and employment information talks. The aim is to promote the activities of SOVIO, which are focused on young people aged from 16 to 24 and designed to facilitate the choice of a professional career or occupation and to provide relevant information on the labour market^[23].

38. The challenge is to overcome the most frequent problems facing the Regional Directorates of Labour and Employment Promotion, namely the lack of budget (22 per cent) and specialized support staff (22 per cent). This is followed by the problems of inadequate infrastructure (17 per cent) and lack of information on educational supply and labour demand (17 per cent). For more information, see table 17 in Annex II.

39. Finally, according to the data provided by the Programme of Employment Statistics and Studies (PEEL), no up-to-date information exists on employment and occupation by race, colour, religion and national origin, which is also the case with the National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology (INEI).

Please indicate the main cases in which a distinction, exclusion or preference based on one of the above-mentioned conditions is not regarded in your country as discrimination because of the specific requirements of the occupation concerned. Please indicate any problem of application, difference or controversy that has arisen in connection with these conditions.

40. The State recognizes and guarantees equality of conditions and opportunities between its nationals and foreigners. However, article 4 of Legislative Decree No. 689 -Employment of Foreign Workers Act – imposes reasonable limits on the number of foreign workers employed by a firm, with the purpose of ensuring adequate technological training

Please indicate if some members of the working population in Peru have more than one job to ensure an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families.

41. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of persons with a principal occupation who had another paid job, i.e. a secondary occupation, represented 14 per cent of the economically active population. For more details, see table 18 of Annex II.

Give a brief account of any changes affecting the right to work contained in national legislation and court decisions, as well as regulations, procedures and administrative practices, in the period 2000-2008.

42. A list of relevant legislation and rulings by the Constitutional Court will be found in tables Nos. 19, 23, 24 and 34 to 36 of annex II.

43. Under the Peruvian Constitution, the State guarantees free access to pensions through public, private or joint public-private agencies. In our country, there exist three pension systems: the private pension system, the state pension system and the Decree-Law No. 20530 system^[24].

44. There are other special pension schemes such as the Military-Police Pension Fund (Decree-Law No. 19846), the Fishermen’s Pension Fund and other membership schemes. Peru also has a Complementary Insurance for Hazardous Work (SCTR)^[25]. Finally, there is the "Insure your Pension" scheme, which is an unemployment micro-insurance^[26].

45. The single consolidated text of Legislative Decree 728, Labour Productivity and Competitiveness Act, approved by Supreme Decree No. 003-97-TR, states that: “Remuneration, for all legal purposes, is constituted by the sum of what the worker receives for his or her services, in cash or in kind, in whatever denomination, subject to their being freely rendered”.

46. With regard to wage-setting in the public sector, Legislative Decree No. 276, Civil Service (Framework) Act, provides that the remuneration of public officials and public servants consists of basic salary, allowances and benefits^[27].

47. Act No. 28212, regulating the income of high officials and authorities of the State, develops the provisions of article 39 of the Constitution, which establishes hierarchies in the service of the Nation.

48. The private sector is governed by supply and demand in accordance with a social market economy model. The State regulates the question of minimum remuneration with the participation of organizations representing workers and employers.

Please indicate whether a minimum wage system has been established and specify the groups of wage-earners to which it applies, the number of persons included in each group and the authority responsible for determining the said groups. Is there any wage-earner still not receiving protection in law or in practice under the minimum wage system?

49. Peru possesses a minimum wage system. With regard to the scope of the minimum wage system, almost 50 per cent of wage-earners in the private sector receive salaries below the minimum, the situation being particularly critical in the microenterprise sector, where over two thirds of workers receive a salary below the minimum wage. While 68 per cent of workers in microenterprises fall into this category, the figure is lower in large firms, where 12 per cent are affected. For more details, see tables 20 to 24 and 34 to 36 of annex II, as well as pages 106 and 107 of annex X.

Do these minimum salaries have force of law and what is the guarantee against their losing value?

50. This right is guaranteed in article 24 of the Constitution^[28]. Minimum salaries are fixed by Supreme Decree issued by the President of the Republic, under his decision-making powers. The National Labour and Employment Promotion Council^[29] is designed to discuss and coordinate labour policies, employment promotion and social welfare in the context of national and regional development. It is also responsible for regulating minimum living wages. The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion convenes a multidisciplinary committee before the established period (biennial), for the purpose of reviewing the adjustment methodology.

How far and in what way is account taken of the needs of workers and their families, as well as economic factors, and how are the two combined to determine the level of minimum wages? What standards, goals and benchmarks are relevant in this regard?

Please describe briefly the mechanism adopted for setting, monitoring and adjusting minimum salaries.

52. Salary adjustments are based on the following criteria: percentage variation in the minimum wage; average inflation over the previous two years; the adjustment factor (average productivity rate over the previous five years in the commercial and services sector in relation to average productivity in the industrial and construction sectors); and the average movement in the preceding quinquennia of mean labour productivity in the non-primary sector, for the purposes of biennial adjustment.

53. The logic of taking inflation into account is to maintain the purchasing power of workers receiving an income close to the minimum wage; while the inclusion of productivity gains is to ensure that increases in the minimum wage reflect economic performance.

54. The periodicity of the adjustment of the minimum wage is every two years. The Ministry of Labour has the task of ensuring that minimum wages reflect the real situation.

Please supply information on trends in average and minimum wages over the last ten and five years compared with corresponding trends in the cost of living.

55. Throughout Peru’s history, regulation of the minimum wage has lacked an adequate institutional framework – something reflected in the repeated changes to the components, value and critria adopted for setting it. The Minimum Living Wage (RMV) was increased from 460 New Soles in 2005 to 500 New Soles with effect from 1 January 2006. It was subsequently set at 530 New Soles from 1 October 2007 and at 550 New Soles from 1 January 2008. For more details on changes to the RMV, see tables 21 and 22 of Annex II.

Please indicate whether the minimum wages system is in practice supervised effectively.

56. In 2007, the National Inspectorate issued 104 inspection orders nationally, generating 250 inspection measures. These resulted in 67 reports of infringements, which led to punitive proceedings in every case at the various regional headquarters, while in 37 other cases the inspections did not detect any infringement and final reports were issued in every instance.

57. In this regard, the National Labour Inspectorate is responsible for organizing the Labour Inspection System at national level, its duties including the management, organization, coordination, planning, monitoring and supervision of the performance and operation of the Inspection System. Its organization, operation and structure are regulated under articles 18 to 24 of Act No. 28806^[30].

Please indicate whether there exists any inequality in remuneration for work of equal value in Peru, in particular working conditions of equal value and especially working conditions for women inferior to those for men or violations in this regard of the principle of equal remuneration for equal work.

58. In terms of statistics, no work has been done in our country on the subject of unequal remuneration for work of equal value. However, Peru has ratified ILO Convention No. 100 on equal remuneration, which inter alia makes it obligatory for each Member State to ensure the application to all workers of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.

59. In accordance with the household survey carried out in 2006 by the National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology, it is well known that workers in urban areas receive wages that are higher on average than those paid to workers in rural areas. Similarly women tend to be paid less than men, especially in rural areas. However, the latter should not be seen as an example of less pay for similar work, but basically as reflecting the fact that women have access to work that is less productive and less well paid. It should also be noted that these differences are found mainly in the private sector. For more details, see tables 25 and 32 of annex II.

Please indicate the distribution of income among employees in the public and private sectors, taking into account both pay and non-financial benefits. Supply data, if available, on remuneration of comparable work in the public and private sectors.

60. By way of reference, income distribution among wage earners in the public and private sectors has been estimated on the basis of the INEI household enquiry, using the Gini coefficient as a measure of income distribution. The latter indicator tells us that public-sector employees (0.33) have a better income distribution than employees in the private sector (0.54). For more details, see table 26 of annex II and pages 108 to 115 of annex X.

What are the legal, administrative or other kinds of provisions that lay down minimum conditions of health and safety at work? How is compliance with these provisions ensured in practice and to which areas do they not apply?

61. With reference to minimum conditions of health and safety at work, the following standards have been issued: the Regulations on Health and Safety at Work, approved by Supreme Decree No. 009-2005-TR, provide under article 2 that they are applicable to all economic sectors and include all employees and workers, under the labour regulations governing private business nationwide^[31]. Supreme Decree No. 007-2007-TR modifies some articles of the Regulations on Health and Safety at Work, approved by Supreme Decree No. 009-2005-TR. Finally, Ministerial Decision No. 1482007-TR approving regulation of the constitution and functioning of the Committee and the appointment and duties of the Supervisor of Health and Safety at Work, and other related documents^[32].

62. The National Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion, under its powers of inspection and supervision, is responsible for compliance with the above provisions^[33].

Please indicate which categories of workers are excluded by law from the existing provisions and which do not benefit sufficiently or at all from them.

63. No information is available in this regard. However, the standards apply to all employers and workers, under the labour regulations governing private business nationwide Employers who do not comply with these obligations can be reported to the relevant authorities.

Please supply statistical or other kinds of information on the way in which the number, nature and frequency of accidents and sickness at work have evolved over time (from ten and five years ago to the present).

64. Between 2000 and 2004, the Peruvian Social Security System-ESSALUD recorded 14,137 job-related accidents, with an accident rate ranging from 0.36 to 0.83 per cent^[34]. The accidents occurred mostly in the manufacturing sector (24 per cent), the most common cause being blows and falls^[35]. For further details, see tables 27 to 31 of annex II. For its part, the Superintendency of Health Service Providers recorded 32,165 accidents among subscribers to the Complementary Work Risk Insurance (306,957 affilated workers). The accident rate was 10.48 per cent, much higher that that recorded by ESSALUD.

65. There is less information nationally on work-related illness. ESSALUD highlights acoustic trauma, contact dermatitis, abnormal results in lung-function studies and lumbago.

66. Compliance with work standards is a priority for the Peruvian State, in keeping with international treaties and agreements signed by the Peruvian Government (totalling 58 in the labour sphere).

Please provide information on the effective implementation in Peru of the principle of equality of opportunity for promotion.^[36]

67. The groups of workers deprived of equality of opportunity are mainly young people, women on low income, disabled persons, the elderly and people with HIV-AIDS ^[37].

What measures are taken to eliminate this inequality? Please describe the successes and failures of these measures in relation to the various underprivileged groups.

68. In keeping with Strategic Objectives 4.1 y 4.2^[38], contained in the National Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Women and Men 2006-2010, and the National Plan for Equality of Opportunity for the Handicapped, various measures have been implemented in the course of 2007^[39]. For further details, see table 32 of annex II.

Please describe the laws and practices adopted in your country with regard to rest, leisure, reasonable limitation of working hours, periodic holidays with pay and remuneration of public holidays.

69. With regard to rest, periodic holidays with pay and remuneration of public holidays,

the following provisions are in force: paragraph 25 of the Peruvian Constitution, which stipulates that the ordinary working day is eight hours and the normal working week 48 hours^[40]; Legislative Decree No. 713, which strengthens the legislation on rest with pay for workers subject to the labour regulations governing private business; and Supreme Decree No. 012-92-TR, Regulations governing Legislative Decree No. 713

70. In addition, Peru has ratified the following ILO Conventions: No. 14, on Weekly Rest (Industry); No. 52, on Holidays with Pay; No. 67, on Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport); and, No. 106, concerning Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices).

Please indicate the conditions of substance or form, as appropriate, that must be met in order to form a trade union and join the union of one’s choice.

71. Article 28 of the Peruvian Constitution recognizes the collective rights of workers, collective bargaining and the right to strike. It ensures their democratic exercise, guarantees freedom to form trade unions and encourages collective bargaining^[41].

72. With respect to the right to join and form trade unions, the single consolidated text (TUO) of the Collective Labour Relations Act stipulates that the State recognizes the right of workers to form trade unions, without prior authorization, for the study, development, protection and defence of their rights and interests and the social, economic and moral improvement of their members. It also specifies that membership should be free and volontary. Employment of a worker cannot be made conditional upon membership, non-membership or relinquishment of membership and a worker must not be obliged to join a trade union or be prevented from doing so^[42].

73. In order to form and maintain a trade union, the latter should have a membership of at least twenty (20) workers, in the case of unions within a firm, or fifty (50) workers in the case of other kinds of unions. In the event that the required number of workers cannot be found, the possibility exists of electing two (2) delegates to represent the workers in dealings with the employer and the Labour Authority, who should be given five working days’ notice of such a decision^[43].

74. A meeting must be convened to form a trade union, approve its statutes and elect its representative body; all of these proceedings must be set forth in a record authenticated by a notary public or, in the absence thereof, by the local justice of the peace, specifying the place and date and containing a list of attendance. The trade union must also be entered in the appropriate register, which is kept by the Labour Authority as a formal, non-constituent instrument that cannot be declared void except in the event of non-fulfilment of the statutory requirements^[44]. For further details, please see table 6 of annex VIII.

Are any restrictions placed on the right of workers to form and join trades unions? Please describe in detail the legal provisions prescribing such restrictions and their application in practice over time.

75. Articles 42 and 153 of the Peruvian Constitution prescribe limits to the rights of members of the armed forces, national police, judges and prosecutors to form unions and strike^[45]. It should be noted that Peru has ratified ILO Convention No. 87 concerning freedom of association and the right to organize; and No. 98 concerning the right to organize and collective bargaining.

Please supply information on the way in which Peru guarantees the right of trade unions to form federations and join international trade union organizations. What legal and practical restrictions are placed on the exercise of this right?

76. A minimum of two (2) trade unions registered in the same class of activity is required to form a federation. Likewise, a minimum of two (2) registered federations is required to form a confederation. Joining or renouncing membership of federations, confederations or international trade union organizations must be agreed by General Assembly. The TUO also provides that federations and confederations are governed by the provisions of the trade unions insofar as they are applicable to them^[46]. Restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of such rights only if they compromise social peace, public security or public and private property.

Please indicate in detail what conditions or restrictions are placed on the right of trade unions to operate freely. Which unions have been adversely affected in practice by such conditions or restrictions? What measures are being taken to promote the free negotiation of collective contracts?

77. With regard to collective rights, there has been a decline in collective bargaining since the 1990s, the number of dossiers submitted having fallen from 2000 in 1990 to 500 in 2005. Only 7.24 per cent of private-sector wage-earners in our country are members of a trade union^[47].

78. The national political agenda has therefore emphasized improvement of the quality of labour relations, unionization and peaceful ways of solving labour conflicts in Peru. On this basis, the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion drew up a document entitled Socio-Labour Policy Guidelines 2008-2011, setting out strategies and lines of action to combat this shortcoming^[48].

Please provide data on the number and structure of the trade unions established in your country and on their composition.

79. According to article 44 of the single consolidated text of the Collective Labour Relations Act, unions can be organized: by enterprise, branch of activity or trade association.

80. As of 2004, the register of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion included the names of 2,961 unions^[49].

Please indicate whether the right of workers to strike is recognized in your country as a constitutional or legal right. In the contrary case, what other legal or practical criterion is used to guarantee the exercise of this right?

81. Article 28 of the Peruvian Constitution recognizes the right to strike, as previously indicated.

What restrictions are imposed on exercise of the right to strike? Please describe in detail the legal provisions that govern such restrictions and their implementation in practice over time.

82. Under article 42 of the Constitution, the right of public servants to form unions and strike is recognized. As previously stated, this right does not extend to government officials with decision-making powers, those who hold posts of trust or management, members of the Armed Forces and the National Police, judges and prosecutors. Restrictions are placed on the exercise of such rights only if it jeopardizes social peace, public security or public and private property.

Please indicate whether special legal provisions exist concerning exercise of the right to strike, how they have been applied in practice and the number of workers subject to them.

If previous reports have been submitted, provide a brief account of any changes affecting the rights affirmed in article 8 of the Covenant that have been introduced in national legislation and judicial rulings, as well as in regulatory provisions and administrative procedures, during the period covered by the present report.

84. The corresponding report was submitted in October 1999, including an evaluation of legislation adopted in the 1990s. Changes to the situation described in this report are mainly treated in the sections relating to current levels of remuneration.

If your country is party to the 1952 ILO Convention on Social Security (Minimum Standards) or to subsequent Conventions (Nos. 121, 128, 130 and

168) and has submitted reports to the competent supervisory bodies concerning their provisions, please refer to these reports rather than repeating the information here. However, all questions concerning the present Covenant that were not fully covered in previous reports should be treated in this report.

85. The report on compliance with ILO Convention No. 102 on Social Security (1952) was submitted by the Peruvian Government in 2007 (under cover of Note No. 1117-2007, dated 6 November 2007). For further data on membership of health and pension schemes, see table 33 of annex II.

Please supply information on the ways, both official and unofficial, used in your country to provide assistance and protection to the family. In particular:

How does your country guarantee the right of men and, particularly, women to enter into marriage with their full and free consent and to establish a family? Please indicate and, where appropriate, give details of cases in which the measures adopted have been successful in abolishing practices that adversely affect enjoyment of this right.

86. Article 4 of the Peruvian Constitution makes it the duty of the State to protect the family and promote marriage, recognizing the latter as natural, fundamental institutions of society^[50].

87. The policies guiding the actions of the State include the commitment to promote marriage and a family community that respects the dignity and rights of all its members^[51]. Another important benchmark for State policy, with which all levels of government must comply, is the National Family Support Plan 2004-2011^[52]. Within this framework, the Ministry for Women and Social Development (MIMDES) has developed and validated a training module for implementing educational measures to strengthen partner abilities and skills^[53].

88. There are also Comprehensive Family Development Centres (CEDIF), located in INABIF premises and/or outsourced to the latter, which are situated in marginal urban and rural areas and offer services to populations subject to poverty and social risk. Services are provided in 35 Comprehensive Family Development Centres, 64 Family Care Centres and 5 Family Recreation Centres^[54].

89. Provincial and district municipalities, and minor population centres under delegated authority, celebrate civil marriages and “collective marriages”, which involve much lower licence costs. Encouragement is also given to formalizing de facto unions, which are recognized under the Constitution.

What are the measures adopted by your country to facilitate the founding, maintenance, strengthening and protection of the family, in particular while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children? Despite these measures, are there families that in no way benefit from this protection and assistance or that do so to significantly less that the majority of the population? Please give details of these cases. Are extended families or other forms of family organization recognized in determining the availability or applicability of these measures, in particular with respect to official benefits?

90. Supreme Decree No. 009-2006-MIMDES, published in the official gazette El Peruano on 23 August 2006, provides for the implementation of breastfeeding facilities in public-sector institutions where 20 or more women of childbearing age work^[55]. This represents the practical implementation of the public policies under the National Family Support Plan 2004-2011^[56], which provides in Guideline No. 3 for reconciling family life with work activities in the public and private sectors alike^[57]. There are currently 124 breast-feeding facilities in Lima and 56 in the provinces, making a total of 180.

91. The Peruvian State also protects the family and promotes marriage, which are recognized under the Constitution as natural, fundamental institutions of society^[58]; it likewise protects the stable union of a man and woman free of any matrimonial impediment who establish a home, thereby giving rise to a joint estate to be governed by the system of community property where applicable^[59].

92. In addition, under the MIMDES National Wawa Wasi Programme^[60] (PNWW), responsible parenthood is promoted by strengthening the role of the family in the provision of inclusive care to its children. It comprises information, communication and training activities on comprehensive child-rearing practices (nutrition, early stimulation, sound hygiene practices)^[61]. A strategy named Wawachay (a Quechua word meaning My Boy) is currently being developed, involving exchanges of experience between fathers and sons.

93. For its part, the National Wawa Wasi Programme has been given responsibility for implementing the Q'ATARI WAWA Project, aimed at the protection and comprehensive development of boys and girls in rural Andean areas^[62].

94. Concerning families that do not benefit in any way from this protection and assistance or that do so significantly less than the majority of the population, it should be noted that the PNWW devotes 84 per cent of its annual budget to grants, representing an average investment of $300 a month for each child supported annually. However, the demand for comprehensive care for the beneficiary population subject to poverty or extreme poverty has not been wholly satisfied, although there has been significant progress in the form of a progressive increase in the service’s coverage.

95. National child care coverage has steadily increased from 10,000 boys and girls in 1999 to 53,000 in 2007. For more information, see table I of annex III.

96. According to a study of potential demand based on data from the National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology (INEI) deriving from the National Household Survey (ENAHO), the percentage coverage in relation to demand is 14.36 per cent. However, attention is drawn to the progressive increase in the number of persons benefiting from the service, as shown in table 02 of annex III.

97. Regarding information on whether extended families or other forms of family organization are recognized in deciding whether these measures are available or applicabe, particularly with respect to official benefits, data is available on a variety of activities by suburban and rural areas and also by income quintile^[63].

In relation to any obvious shortcomings with regard to the preceding paragraphs, what measures are being studied to remedy the situation in question?

98. Under current government policy, consideration is being given to increasing coverage in areas of extreme poverty through reorienting measures.

99. Work has begun to implement the National Family Support Plan 2004-2011, which provides under guideline 8 for the promotion of marriage and stable families through marriage preparation classes, advisory services, reduction in the high cost of civil matrimony and strengthening the oversight of marriage requirements. Efforts are also being made to revitalize the Wawa Net system in order to improve service quality and obtain relevant information for improving public administration.

Please describe the special measures to protect and assist children and young people, in particular measures to protect them from economic exploitation and prevent them from being employed in tasks presenting a moral or health risk, posing a danger to their lives and likely to impede their normal development.

What is the age limit in your country below which the paid employment of children in various ocupations is prohibited?

100. The required ages for authorization of work by adolescents are^[64]: in the case of work for a third party or as employee, 15 years for non-industrial agricultural labour; 16 years for industrial, commercial or mining work; 17 years for industrial fishery work; and 12 years for other forms of work.

101. It is presumed that adolescents are authorized to work by their parents or guardians when they live with them, except in the case of express indication to the contrary.

Please indicate how many children and in which age groups are in paid employment and to what extent.

102. In Peru, the Children’s and Adolescents’ Code classifies minors aged 0 to 12 as children and those aged 12 to 18 as adolescents. Since the minimum age of admission to employment in Peru is 14 years, and exceptionally 12 to 14 when it does not compromize their health, education and overall development, the registration, authorization and supervision of adolescent work is subject to legislation. However, some 12-year-olds are engaged in economic activities and they are the focus of policies by the Peruvian Government to protect and promote their rights^[65].

103. The National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology (INEI) carried out the National Household Survey (ENAHO) in 2001, assembling data on the age of working minors, broken down by sex, hours of work and type of work.

104. The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion, on the basis of its register of adolescent work, reported a total of 497 adolescent work authorizations in the first quarter of 2008, declared in every case to be paid employment^[66].

105. According to the statistics and report of the National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology (Source INEI-2001), 28.6 per cent of children and adolescents aged between 6 and 17 work (equivalent to some 2,000,000); 53.9 per cent are male and 46.1 per cent are female; 90 per cent are in the informal sector; they work more than 45 hours a week and 90 per cent are paid at or below the minimum wage.

106. The areas in which children between the ages of 6 and 13 work are: agriculture 81.0 per cent, family help 11 per cent, domestic help 3.7 per cent, preparing goods for sale 2 per cent, sale of goods 1.9 per cent and loading packages 0.4%.

107. The areas in which children between the ages of 14 and 17 work are: farm labouring 48.7 per cent; helper/service work 15.4 per cent; cooking, waiting and building work 11.8 per cent; commerce 11.6 per cent, domestic work 8.6 per cent and street vending 3.7 per cent.

Please indicate to what extent children are employed in the family home, farm or business.

108. There is household work that by its nature and status is considered dangerous and which minors are not therefore allowed to perform (Supreme Decree No. 007-2006-MIMDES).

109. With regard to work on farms or in family businesses, this is not registered in any way. However, it is known about as result of complaints that many minors, required by their families to care for livestock and perform farm duties, do not study and that their needs are not properly met as a result of having to contribute to the household economy

Please indicate if there are groups of children and young people in your country who do not enjoy any kind of protection and assistance or who do so significantly less than the majority. In particular, what is the situation of orphans, children whose parents are dead, small children, abandoned minors, children deprived of their family environment and physically or mentally impaired children?

110. Protection and assistance to children and adolescents is provided at two levels: firstly, through socio-educational measures designed to rehabilitate the adolescent offender, and protective measures aimed at the child or adolescent presumed abandoned^[67].

111. The situation of orphans, abandoned children, those deprived of their family environment and physically or mentally impaired children is dealt with in the first instance by the MIMDES Protection Investigation Management Unit or the specialized family court. Following investigation of the child or adolescent, with or without physical or mental disability, the decision is made on declaration of the state of abandonment.

112. Once the state of abandonment has been declared, the child is sent to a duly accredited residential care centre, where a check is made on his or her education, food, clothing, etc. At the same time, a report has to be made on whether the abandoned child or adolescent, with or without physical or mental handicap, is suitable for adoption. This procedure is carried out by the MIMDES National Adoptions Secretariat.

113. There are approximately 300 (private) Residential Care Centres registered nationally, catering for some 6,500 resident children and adolescents. This information only covers those institutions that have registered with the MIMDES Central Register of Institutions, since there is currently a percentage that has not formally registered. The Peruvian State cannot therefore know how and in what way care is provided to the most vulnerable population in our country. The Institute of Child Care and Welfare provides accommodation for a total of 3,500 minors^[68].

114. Currently there are some 10,000 children and adolescents aged between 0 and 18 accommodated in various State institutions and (private) Residential Care Centres^[69].

How are the persons mentioned in the previous paragraph informed of their rights?

115. The rights of those mentioned in the previous paragraph have been publicized through campaigns, talks, forums and seminars aimed at the groups and public officials concerned, by means of a multisectoral approach. The rights of those concerned are also publicized through various teaching materials, which are featured at various events organized by the Department of Children and Adolescents (DINNA), the MIMDES Follow-Up Investigation Unit (UGIT), the National Adoptions Secretariat (SNA) and the National Comprehensive Family Welfare Programme (INABIF) – all dependent on the Ministry for Women and Social Development.

Please give details of any shortcomings or problems that have arisen. How have these situations evolved over time? What measures have been adopted to correct those situations? Please describe the consequences of these measures over time and indicate successes, problems and shortcomings.

116. Act No. 27337 – Children’s and Adolescents’ Code, published on 7 August 2000, provided that the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and Human Development – PROMUDEH (today the Ministry for Women and Social Development – MIMDES), should assume responsibility for guardianship proceedings, beginning one hundred and eighty (180) days after coming into effect, and that Family Judges should be competent in the matter in the meantime.

117. Starting in 2004, the National Adoptions Secretariat (SNA) initiated measures to remove protection investigations from the sphere of the courts. It thereby sought to accelerate the legal process, attempting in the higher interests of the child and adolescent to ensure the application of effective protection measures to avoid placing minors in institutions and to substantially guarantee their rights to develop within their biological family or, in its absence, to provide for their development in a regular family environment. These measures sought to resolve the existing problem whereby the Judiciary took from one and a half to seven years to decide on the declaration of abandonment.

118. With the adoption of Act No. 28330 published on 14 August 2004, modifying various articles of the Children’s and Adolescents’ Code, a mixed administrative-judicial system for protection investigations was created, whereby the investigative procedures are administrative and the decision on the state of abandonment of the child or adolescent is judicial, that is to say, the protection investigations are partially removed from the judicial sphere^[70].

119. MIMDES is currently responsible for the protection investigation process, through the Protection Investigation Management Unit, which carries out the preliminary enquiries to establish the legal situation of the child or adolescent presumed abandoned, to order the relevant social protection measures and, where evidence of abandonment is found, to forward the file to the competent judge for a ruling on the matter.

120. It should be mentioned that by Supreme Decree No. 005-2007-MIMDES the Child Protection Investigation Unit (UGIT) was attached to the National Adoptions Secretariat (SNA), its functional and administrative dependency being specified in Ministerial Decision No. 413-2007-MIMDES of 27 August 2007.

121. Finally, Ministerial Decision No. 122-2008-MIMDES declared the National Adoptions Secretariat (SNA) of the Ministry of Women and Social Development (MIMDES) to be undergoing reorganization to assess, analyze, propose and implement administrative and management reforms. On completion of the reorganization, it was decided that the Protection Investigations Management Unit would be reunited with the National Family Welfare Programme – INABIF.

122. To ensure adequate and properly organized monitoring of the Residential Care Centres in Peru (catering for children and adolescents with or without physical and mental disabilities), Act No. 29174 was adopted on 23 December 2007, regulating the functioning of Residential Care Centres for Children and Adolescents^[71].

Please provide information on the current living standards of the Peruvian population, generally and in terms of the different socio-economic, cultural and other social groups. How have the living standards of these groups varied over time (e.g. in comparison with eight years ago)? Has there been a steady improvement in the living conditions of the population as a whole or, if not, of which groups?

123. In 2001, the total poverty rate in Peru was 55.6 per cent (79.6 per cent for men and 20.4 per cent for women). Between 2006 and 2007, it fell by 5.2 percentage points, from 44.5 per cent to 39.3 per cent. This was the percentage of Peruvians whose monthly spending did not exceed 229.4 New Soles, which is the cost of the minimum food basket and also represents the total poverty line. As for the extremely poor with a monthly expenditure not exceeding 121.2 New Soles, they accounted for 13.7 per cent of the population, a fall of 2.4 percentage points since 2006. See table No. 3 of annex III.

124. In urban areas, the proportion of persons living in poverty in 2001 was 38.4 per cent, falling in 2006 to 31.2 per cent and in 2007 to 25.7 per cent. On the other hand, in rural areas the proportion remained high: in 2001, it was 78.3 per cent, reducing to 69.3 per cent in 2006 and 64.6 per cent in 2007. The departments with the highest percentage of poor people continued to be Huancavelica (85.7 per cent), Apurímac (69.5 per cent), Ayacucho (68.3 per cent), Puno (67.2 per cent), Huánuco (64.9 per cent), Cajamarca (64.5 per cent) and Pasco (63.4 per cent). These are all Andean departments, showing the discrepancy between this region and the coast and jungle areas.

125. It is however important to mention that the poverty gap has been reduced from 16.3 in 2004 to 12.8 per cent in 2007. See table 4 of annex III.

126. The average per capita monthly income by domain was 372.3 New Soles in 2004, rising to 468.6 New Soles by 2007. See table 5 of annex III.

127. Life expectancy in the Peruvian population has changed in recent years: in 1970 it was 55.52 years, whereas for those born in 2005 the average life expectancy is 71.2 years. Women have a life expectancy of 73.9 years and men of 68.7 years, and it is estimated that it will rise to an average of 75 years in 2025. In the period 1997-2001, the poverty rate among the adult population was 41.7 per cent, 17.7 per cent of whom were living in extreme poverty. See table 6 of annex III.

128. With regard to infant mortality, the rate in 2000 was 28 per cent in urban areas and 60 per cent in rural areas, while in 2006 it measured 21 per cent in urban and 36 per cent in rural areas.

129. According to the National Household Survey (ENAHO), the illiteracy rate among elderly people stood at 30.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2007. The rate was higher among women (48.5 per cent), particularly those living in rural areas where some 8 out of ten were unable to read or write, compared 3 out of 10 adult women in rural areas. While the illiteracy level in rural areas was lower among men than women, it remained significant since 37.3 per cent of males in rural areas were affected, compared with 12.1 per cent in rural areas.

130. The number of people with social security cover is 512,950 (466,942 under the National Pensions System and 46,018 under the Private Pension System). Some 2,000,000 people aged over 60 lack any kind of social security cover.

Please provide an overview of the extent to which the right to adequate food has been realized in Peru. Indicate the sources of information in this regard, in particular studies on the nutritional situation and other monitoring measures.

131. The National Food Security Strategy 2004-2015^[72] aims to ensure that by 2015 the population as a whole can satisfy its basic food and nutritional needs. The Strategy has four main thrusts: (a) social protection for vulnerable groups; (b) improved competition in national food supply; (c) reinforced risk management capacities in the area of food security; (d) a modern institutional framework.

132. Under the Comprehensive Nutritional Programme (PIN), 85,880 expectant/breastfeeding mothers were supported by the infant subprogramme in 2007. (Source PRONAA). By March 2009, food supplements had been provided to 112,523 expectant mothers in areas of extreme poverty; 69,175 breastfeeding mothers had received monthly food supplements, and 667,266 children under 3 had enjoyed supplementary food rations.

133. Under the JUNTOS programme, families receive 100 soles if they meet three conditions: take their children under five for health checks, receive their baby food packages, and send their school-age children to school regularly. In 2007, there was over 93.4 per cent compliance. See table 7 of annex III.

134. Under the Child Food Programmes, 1,056,474 children below the age of 6 living in extreme poverty were supported in 2007. See table 8 of annex III.

Please provide detailed information (in particular, statistical data by different geographical areas) on the extent to which hunger and/or malnutrition exist in Peru. This information should cover in particular the following.

Changes that have taken place over the last five years in the situation of each of the groups mentioned.

135. The national incidence of chronic malnutrition in under-five-year-olds was 36.5 per cent in 1992. WHO put the rate at 31.3 per cent in 2006 and at 29.1 per cent in 2007^[73]. See table 9 of annex III.

136. In accordance with the National Nutritional Indicator Monitoring System (MONIN), some 27 per cent of children aged 1 to 5 suffered from chronic malnutrition in 2004, the rates for rural areas (33 per cent) being higher than those for urban areas (18 per cent). These figures are similar to those of the Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES) for the year 2000 (26 per cent). The rate of chronic malnutrition according to the new WHO standards is 29.1 per cent (ENDES 2004-2006 – INEI)^[74]. Rates of chronic malnutrition in Peru’s different departments for 2000 and 2004 will be found in table 10 of annex III.

137. The rate of anaemia nationally in children aged 6 to 59 months in the year 2000 was 57 per cent, falling to 46 per cent in 2005 and 43 per cent in 2007. See table 11 of annex III.

138. Among young children with a food intake below the minimum, 31 per cent were undersized in 2000, compared with 29 per cent in 2005 and 2007 (tables 12, 13 and 14 of annex III). As to undersized children by wealth indicator, the rate for the poorest sector in 2005 and 2007 was 54 per cent, compared with 22 per cent and 6 per cent respectively for the middle and upper sectors.

139. These problems were mainly related to the circumstances of the mother, including pregnancies among young girls and older women, short intervals between births, educational level and lack of care during pregnancy and birth.

Please indicate what measures the Peruvian Government considers necessary to guarantee access to adequate food by each of the aforementioned vulnerable or underprivileged groups and disadvantaged areas and to ensure full implementation of the right to food for men and women. Please indicate the measures adopted and specify the time targets and nutritional indicators for measuring achievements in this regard.

140. Under the National Food Security Programme, the State has implemented various programmes that come together to combat malnutrition. It has launched the Coordinated Nutritional Strategy, which addresses the multiple causes of chronic malnutrition by combining the efforts of different groups in Peru and the measures to combat malnutrition under the JUNTOS programme. In this way, it is promoting progress towards the goals of reducing malnutrition rates to 21 per cent by 2008 and to 17 per cent by 2011. The JUNTOS programme has provided food supplements to 108,499 children aged 0 to 3. Its coverage has grown and broadened in scope, benefiting 372,918 households in 14 departments^[75]. See table 15 of annex III.

141. In 2007, the National Food Aid Programme (PRONAA), together with the Child Nutrition Programmes, supported 1,056,474 children under 6, most of them in the first and second poverty quintile. See table 16 of annex III.

142. The “Glass of Milk” Programme (PVL) benefited 406,728 infants and children in 2006. Sixty per cent were aged 0 to 6, nine per cent were pregnant or nursing mothers and 20 per cent were youngsters aged 7 to 13. The Programme has an annual budget of 363 million new soles, i.e. over 40 per cent of the annual food aid budget. There was also an increase in maternal breast-feeding and the provision of solid supplements, as shown in table 17 of annex III.

Please indicate the GNP per capita of the poorest 40 per cent of the population. Is there a “poverty threshold” in Peru and, if so, what are the criteria for determining it?

143. GNP during the period has varied between US$ 4,789 in 2000 and US$ 6,177 in 2007. However, given the way in which poverty is measured by INEI, no information is available on the poorest 40 per cent of the population. On the other hand, information is available on the poverty gap and its variation in the period 2004–2007. For more information, see table 4 of annex III.

144. The National Institute of Statistics and Information Technology (INEI) is the official body in charge of the Peruvian Statistics System. It adopts a uniquely monetary and objective approach to the definition of poverty^[76]. It classifies as poor all those persons resident in private households whose expenditure per capita in monetary terms does not exceed the poverty threshold or the minimum amount needed to meet their food and non-food needs.

145. The Extreme Poverty Line is the monetary value necessary to acquire a food basket capable of meeting the minimum nutritional requirements of the persons concerned. The Total Poverty Line is the value of the Extreme Poverty Line plus the monetary value necessary to meet a set of non-food requirements considered essential (clothing and footwear, rent, fuel, furniture and fittings, health care, transport and communications, recreation, culture and other expenses).

146. Our country does not use an indicator of the physical quality of life, which is not among the variables measured by INEI. However, the variation in the Human Development Index over the period 2000-2008 was 0.620 in 2000 and 0.773 in 2007.

Have there been any changes in national policies, laws and practices in the period 2000–2008 that have adversely affected access to adequate food by these groups and sectors or among the poorest sectors of the population? If so, please describe these changes and assess their impact.

147. Contrary to the implication in the question, the period 2000-2008 has been characterized by positive changes with regard to access to adequate food. An increasing emphasis on nutrition, especially infant nutrition, has become one of the main goals of the present government.

Please indicate how measures adopted to improve methods of food production, conservation and distribution making full use of scientific and technological knowledge have furthered or impeded exercise of the right to adequate food. Please describe the impact of such measures in terms of ecological continuity and the protection and preservation of food production resources.

148. The National Food and Nutrition Centre is the technical, standard-setting agency of the National Health Institute, responsible nationally for promoting, planning, implementing and evaluating the research and development of appropriate technologies in the areas of foodstuffs, human nutrition, food hygiene control, drinks, etc.

149. Scientific research carried out by national universities and other state and private research institutions have a continuing influence on agricultural production.

Please indicate the measures adopted to make the main nutrition facts more widely known and specify if significant groups or sectors of society seem to lack such knowledge-

150. The Integrated Food Programme, developed under the National Food Aid Programme (PRONAA), has three main components, one of which is directly aimed at spreading knowledge of the principles of nutrition among specific groups. These are: firstly, mothers of children under three, parents or guardians and pregnant or nursing mothers; community leaders and officials; community agents and technical assistants; MIMDES agents; departmental and regional government officials; teachers, parents’ association (APAFAS) and the Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES). The contents of the Programme include healthy practices as well as the principles of nutrition – balanced diet and food supplements at 6 months and from 1 to 3 years^[77].

Please list the agricultural reform measures adopted by your Government to ensure that your country’s agricultural system serves to increase domestic food security, without detriment to human dignity, in both rural and urban communities, having regard to the provisions of articles 6 to 8 of the Covenant. Please describe the measures adopted to: enact legislation for that purpose; apply existing legislation in that regard; promote vigilance through governmental and nongovernmenal organizations.

151. Agricultural reform took place in Peru under a military government and, while there was broad agreement on the need for such reform, the way in which it was carried out was widely criticized. Currently, the picture in Peru is not one of large estates; the problem in many cases has rather to do with smallholdings that prevent modern agricultural development. Communal lands belonging to peasant communities in the Andean region come under a special regime that grants them protection.

Please provide statistical information on the housing situation in your country.

152. The 11th National Population Census and 6th Housing Census carried out in 2007 revealed that there are 7,583,140 housing units in the country. Of these, 7,566,142 are private dwellings and 15,181 collective units, including 1,817 sites not intended for human habitation (bridges, parks, caves, abandoned vehicles, airports, ports, etc.) but which are used as living accommodation by some people.

153. According to the 2007 Census, private housing units in the country include 6,477,401 independent houses, representing 85.6 per cent of the total; 378,926 flats in blocks, representing 5.0 per cent; 332,121 cottages or huts, representing 4.4 per cent; and, to a lesser degree, farms, communal dwellings, makeshift accommodation and premises not intended for human or other types of habitation. For more details, see tables 1, 2 and 3 of annex IV, as well as pages 163 to 197 of annex X.

Please provide detailed information on those groups in society that find themselves in a precarious situation with regard to housing. Please indicate in particular:

The number of individuals and families who are currently inadequately housed and without access to basic services such as water, heating (where necessary), waste disposal, sanitation, electricity, postal services, etc. (insofar as these services are considered relevant in your country). Please include the number of persons living in overcrowded, damp or structurally unsafe housing or in other conditions detrimental to health.

154. Precise information on individuals and families inadequately housed and without access to basic services is not available. However, the census carried out in 2007 established that the outer walls of 2,991,627 of the 6,400,131 private dwellings whose occupants were present were constructed mainly of brick and cement blocks, representing 46.7 per cent of the housing stock; 2,229,715 were constructed mainly of adobe or mud, representing 34.8 per cent. To a lesser extent, outer walls were constructed of wood (9.7 per cent), wattle and daub (2.9 per cent), matting 2.3 per cent), stone and mud (1.7 per cent) , other materials (1.4 per cent) and stone or ashlar with lime and cement (0.5 per cent).

155. In 43.4 per cent of dwellings, i.e. 2,779,676, the floors were mainly earthen. For more details, see table 6 of annex IV.

156. Drinking water was supplied several days a week to 10.1 per cent of private dwellings (438,127) whose occupants were present. Those possessing a septic tank or latrine accounted for 28.8 per cent (1,396,402). Households using the river, irrigation ditches or canals for sanitation purposes represented 1.8 per cent (114,074), while those lacking any such service totalled 17.4 per cent (1,110,779). For more information, see tables Nos. 5 and 7 to 11 of annex IV.

The number of persons currently registered as living in “illegal” settlements or homes.

157. The 2007 Census recorded a total of 7,566,142 homes, of which 111,180 were in the nature of improvised accommodation and 10,311 were premises not designed to be inhabited. As to the tenure, 5.5 per cent of homes were acquired through invasion of State-owned land. While the State has taken steps to regularize ownership where invasions have occurred, much remains to be done in that regard. See table 4 of annex IV..

The number of people with different titles to occupancy, whether with regard to social or public housing, the private rental sector, owner occupation, the “illegal” sector or others.

158. According to type of occupancy, the number of owner-occupied, fully amortized homes is 4,241,044 (66.3 per cent) out of a total of 6,400,131 private dwellings with persons present; rented homes account for 979,657 (15.3 per cent); “squatterized” homes (5.5 per cent); other forms of occupancy (4.7 per cent); mortgaged property (4.6 per cent); and company housing and other kinds of home or institution (3.7 per cent).

Please provide information on the existence of any law that adversely affects enjoyment of the right to housing, including:

159. There are no legal provisions in Peru that have a negative effect on enjoyment of the right to housing. Article 2.16 of the 1993 Constitution guarantees the right to property, including the right to housing. Property is inviolable, and no one may be deprived of it, save on grounds of national security or public need determined by law and subject to payment of compensation.^[78].

Laws concerning land use and distribution; assignation of land, land zoning, division of land, expropriation including provisions on compensation; land planning, including procedures for community participation-

Laws relating to the right of tenants to security of tenure and protection against eviction; housing finance and rent control (or rent subsidies); availability of housing, etc.

Laws relating to codes, regulations and standards of construction and the provision of infrastructures.

Laws prohibiting any kind of discrimination in the housing sector that include groups not traditionally protected

161. A provision exists under article 2.2 of the Constitution, which prohibits any kind of discrimination^[80].

Laws restricting speculation in housing and property, especially when such speculation has an adverse effect on enjoyment of the right to housing by all sectors of society.

Legislative measures conferring legal title on those living in the “illegal” sector.

163. Our Civil Code (article 950) stipulates the lapse of time necessary for acquisition of ownership, which is dependent on whether the acquisition is in good faith (five years) or bad faith (ten years). The aim is to reward the person who effectively works and makes use of the land.

164. The body responsible for conferring legal title on informal property – COFOPRI – is a decentralized public agency with legal personality, attached to the Housing Sector and coming under its budget. It is responsible for devising, regulating, implementing and monitoring the formal registration of property ownership and maintenance of its legal status. It includes physical and legal conformity with sanitation standards, granting of legal title and establishment of the property register, in urban and rural areas, and the transfer of information and powers to regional and local government under the decentralization process. For more information on the regulatory framework for the activities of COFOPRI, see table 16 of annex IV.

Laws concerning environmental planning and sanitation in housing and human settlements

165. The National Plan for the Comprehensive Management of Solid Wastes was approved by Decree of the Governing Board of the National Environmental Council – CONAM No. 00472005-CONAM/CD of April 2005^[81].

Please provide information on all the other measures adopted to give effect to the right to housing, in particular:

Measures adopted to encourage “facilitation strategies”, whereby local community-based organizations and the “informal” sector can construct housing and provide related services. Are such organizations free to act? Do they receive official financing?

166. Access to legal ownership is promoted in the first place through COFOPRI, which seeks solutions to the lack of title to housing.

167. Access to housing by the population has been promoted by the creation of the MIVIVIENDA programme and by the adoption of the following provisions: Act No. 26912 of 9 January 1998, on the promotion of access by the population to private property, housing and the promotion of savings through funding mechanisms with the participation of the private sector. Under this law, the Housing Mortgage Fund – MIVIVIENDA was created with resources deriving initially from the National Housing Fund (FONAVI), aimed at facilitating the acquisition of housing, especially social housing.

Measures adopted by the State to build housing units and increase other types of affordable-rent constructions.

168. Legislative Decree No. 709 of 5 November 1991, on the promotion of private investment in property for rent.

Measures adopted to ensure that international assistance for housing and human settlements is used to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged groups.

169. National policy on international cooperation in the areas of housing and human settlements is conducted and developed through various State bodies with the aim of meeting the needs of the poorest groups. In the housing field, for example, the Cooperation Fund for Social Development (FONCODES) has the strong backing of international cooperation in the form of non-reimbursable financial participation in support of various programmes and in the management of funding projects involving multilateral entities and international cooperation agencies^[82].

Measures to promote the development of small and medium-sized urban centres, especially at the rural level.

170. The social infrastructure projects financed by FONCODES are small ventures aimed at meeting the basic needs of the rural population living in poverty. These projects have an average cost of 35,000 dollars, which finance the following: educational institutions, health centres, drinking water, latrines, footpaths, road bridges, and secondary electricity networks.

171. The projects are focused mainly on rural localities in the districts situated in quintiles I and II (those with greatest poverty) of the FONCODES Poverty Map and are implemented in conjunction with local governments. The projects must be rooted in agreed local development plans and included in participatory budgets. The relevant standards may be found in table 16 of annex IV.

Please provide information on the mental and physical health of the Peruvian population, in general and with regard to the different social groups, particularly members of rural and indigenous communities. How has the health situation of these groups evolved over time?

172. The Mental Health Department of the Ministry of Health, which is responsible for questions of mental health and care for the affected population, focuses its attention on problems of violence, addiction, psychopathologies and disasters.

174. The Epidemiological Study of Metropolitan Mental Health (National Institute of Mental Health – INSM, 2002)^[84] conducted in Peru showed a 19 per cent overall incidence of depression (14.5 per cent for men and 23.3 per cent for women). On anxiety disorders, the same study showed a 37.3 per cent incidence of psychiatric disorders in general in Metropolitan Lima and Callao. The Sogui study (1997) – focused on a single district of Lima – highlighted a 32.6 per cent incidence of depression, explaining that it appeared to affect the female population mainly during the menopause and the male population in early youth.

175. The Epidemiological Study of Mental Health in the Peruvian Sierra – Ayacucho, Cajamarca and Huaraz – (INSM, 2003)^[85] showed a 17 per cent incidence of depressive disorders, a figure similar to that already mentioned, men and women accounting for 13.5 per cent and 29.2 per cent respectively. The annual prevalence is 7.4 per cent. Most prevalent are anxiety disorders, which account for 21.1 per cent and which are observed more frequently in women (25.3 per cent) than in men (16.6 per cent). As we shall see below, substance use is more prevalent among men.

176. The Epidemiological Study of Mental Health in the Peruvian Jungle – Iquitos, Tarapoto y Pucallpa – (INSM, 2004)^[86] found that more than a third of the population of these towns (39.3 per cent) had at some time suffered from some kind of psychiatric disorder. The study showed a 21.9 per cent overall incidence of depressive disorders, men and women accounting for 13.5 per cent and 29.2 per cent respectively. On anxiety disorders, the same study showed an incidence of 18.3 per cent (14.3 per cent for men and 21.8 per cent for women).

177. It is important that the study carried out in the Peruvian Jungle should have included measurement of psychopathic phenomena, which because of their special nature do not feature in clinical consultations. Tendencies studied included: permissiveness in the presence of psychopathy – tolerance of criminal behaviour such as theft – and psychopathic tendencies such as frequent lying, violence and robbery. The study found an 11.6 per cent rate of permissiveness in the adult population and psychopathic tendencies in 4.7 per cent of the population.

178. It is important to point out that while permissiveness is less prevalent among the adolescent population than among the adults (9.9 per cent), psychopathic tendencies are much higher (39.4 per cent). The study mentions that the results are similar to those attested in Lima and Callao.

179. Suicide, which figures in various tables, occupies fourth place as the cause of violent death in Lima, representing 8 per cent of such deaths (Institute of Forensic Medicine, 2001), with a 2 to 1 proportion between men and women^[87].

180. A subsequent INSM study (2002) found a 30.3 per cent incidence of contemplation of suicide or suicidal thoughts among those questioned, such thoughts being more frequent among women (40.4 per cent) than among men (19.6 per cent), as distinct from the proportion of successful suicides^[88]. An upward generational trend in suicide indicators was observed. The incidence of contemplation of suicide or suicidal thoughts among adults, adolescents and the elderly was 30.3 per cent, 29.1 per cent and 27.8 per cent respectively^[89]. While the incidence among adults is greater than among adolescents, the annual incidence among adolescents is greater than for adults (15.3 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively), which makes suicide and depression one of the mental health priorities during the period of childhood and adolescence.

181. In the Peruvian Sierra (INSM), 2003), among the group of women in a relationship – or previously in a relationship – the incidence of a wish to die was found to be 45 per cent. The incidence of suicidal behaviour was greater among women: 3.6 per cent compared with 1.7 per cent for men. The same study found a 34.2 per cent incidence of the wish to die among adults – slightly higher than the previous figures.

182. In the Peruvian Jungle (INSM, 2004), among the group of women with partners – or previously with partners – the number wishing to die represented 39.9 per cent. The incidence of suicidal behaviour was greater among women: 4.8 per cent compared with 2.2 per cent for men. The same study found a 32.5 per cent incidence of a wish to die among adults.

183. According to the national survey on drug prevention and use^[90], those dependent on drug consumption are mainly addicted to alcohol and tobacco (10.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively of those surveyed), while dependency on marihuana, base cocaine paste, cocaine chlorohydrate, inhalers and tranquillizers accounts for 0.78 per cent^[91].

184. According to epidemiological studies of mental health carried out by INSM, the incidence of consumption of legal non-alcoholic substances is 71.6 per cent in Lima and Callao, 66.3 per cent in the Sierra, 74.4 per cent in the jungle, and 84.9 per cent in border areas. As for non-alcoholic illegal substances, the incidence of consumption is 7.8 per cent in Lima, 2.8 per cent in the Sierra, 9.5 per cent in the jungle and 3.8 per cent in border areas^[92]

185. The above-mentioned INSM study (2002) found a 30.2 per cent incidence of violent tendencies among those surveyed (aged between 18 and 91). The study carried out in the Peruvian Sierra (2003) likewise found a 27.5 per cent incidence of violent conduct, including fights involving weapons of some kind and physical abuse of minors. The Epidemiological Study of Mental Health in the Peruvian Jungle (2004) similarly reports a 26.5 per cent incidence of violent tendencies.

186. According to epidemiological reports (MINSA 2000)^[93] on family violence, 84.7 per cent of victims were women, as compared with 15.2 per cent men. Sixty-one per cent were aged under 15, that is to say, those most afected were young and adolescent girls.

187. The demand for care for the victims of family violence has been growing steadily over the last ten years, registering an increase in 2007 of 96 per cent over the previous year – almost double. Since 1997, demand has increased by 46.08 per cent, i.e. caring for family violence increased 46 times during this period. However, these figures do not necessarily indicate an increase in family violence, increased complaints being an important factor in these cases. It is symptomatic that the complaints began to increase at the end of the 1990s, at a time when the State launched a major awareness campaign^[94]. For more details, see tables 4 to 6 of annex V.

188. According to the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR), the most likely number of fatal victims of the political violence is 69,280, with a probability range of 95 per cent between the lower and upper limits of 61,007 and 77,552 victims respectively. Setting aside the continuing debate on the accuracy of the CVR’s figures for the number of fatalities, it is generally accepted that 85 per cent of these victims were located in 85 per cent of what are regarded as the poorest departments in the country – Ayacucho, Junín, Huánuco, Huancavelica, Apurímac and San Martín. Over 40 per cent of the deaths and disappearances reported by the CVR were concentrated in the department of Ayacucho^[96].

189. The health system comprises two subsectors: the public system (MINSA, Essalud, and the Health Service of the Armed Forces and the Police) and the private sector (health service providers, clinics, etc.).

190. Generally speaking, doctors, nurses, obstetricians and dental surgeons are concentrated in the most developed departments and regions. The Ministry of Health administers 84.7 per cent of the establishments in the sector. The regions with the greatest availability of health establishments are Madre de Dios, Pasco and Amazonas.

191. For ten years, vaccination coverage for all the main diseases has been over 85 per cent. Pre-natal care coverage (4 or more tests) is 87 per cent, while the figure for institutional births is 70.4 per cent. The use of contraceptives is high in the country. 70.5 per cent of women of childbearing age with partners use some form of contraception (46.7 per cent use a modern method, 22 per cent traditional methods and 1.8 per cent folk methods)

192. Since its introduction, coverage under the Comprehensive Social Security Scheme has been increasing, with some 3.5 million joining it in 2005. Membership is greater in rural areas and among the poorest quintile.

Please indicate whether Peru has a national health policy. Indicate whether it has adopted the WHO approach to primary health care as part of its health policy. If so, what measures have been adopted to provide primary health care?

193. Peru has a Coordinated National Health Plan^[97] (PNCS), drawn up on the basis of a broad participative process^[98], which sets the objectives and health goals in the medium and long term for the period 2007-20011.

194. In this Plan, the country’s health problems are grouped under three main headings: hygiene problems, problems concerning the functioning of the health service and problems relating to the determinants of health. It also emphasizes that problems relating to water and sanitation, food security, education, public safety, safety of the working environment, lifestyles and poverty necessitate the participation of other government sectors.

195. Various experiments and technical and social processes attempting to identify the the country’s main health problems have been matched in Peru by political cooperation initiaves and agreements aimed at directing efforts and resources to overcome them. These problems may be summarized thus:

196. Peru also works in close collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization and the Regional Office of the World Health Organization. In this connection, it has developed the Primary Care Services Portfolio^[100], which is a set of measures aimed at the different population groups (children, adolescents, women, pregnant mothers, adults and the elderly), responding to the needs and demands of the insured population^[101].

197. The ESSALUD Primary Care School has also been established, further to the recommendation to invest in the development of institutional human capital. It is designed as a functional organization responsible for the skill development and training of ESSALUD staff^[102].

Please indicate what percentage of GNP, and of national and/or regional budgets, is devoted to health. What percentage of these resources goes to primary health care? Compare this situation with that existing five and ten years ago.

198. Expenditure on health at the national level represents 4.4 per cent of GDP, the contribution of the state health budget being 1.3 per cent, while in relation to the general budget of the Republic it is 5.38 per cent. For more details, see table 29 of annex IV.

Please supply, if available, the WHO indicators in relation to the following:

Rates of infant mortality (as well as the national rate, please indicate the rate by sex, by urban and rural areas and also, where possible, by socioeconomic and ethnic groups and geographical areas. Please include the national definitions of urban and rural areas and other subdivisions).

199. Infant and child deaths per thousand births fell from 43 (urban 28 per cent and rural 60 per cent) and 59 respectively in 1996 to 21 and 29 per thousand births (urban 17 per cent and rural 27 per cent) in 2004-2006, that is to say, there was a reduction of just over 51 per cent as a result of improvements in health service coverage in rural areas, narrowing the traditional gap between urban and rural health indicators. For more details of the causes of death, see tables Nos. 7 to 11 of annex VI.

Access to adequate water supply (please distinguish between the urban and rural population).

200. The Peruvian Government, through the Ministry of Housing, Building and Sanitation, approved the National Sanitation Plan “Water is Life” 2006-2015^[103]. The 2007 Census revealed that 3,504,658 private residences with occupants present had a domestic connection to the public network, representing 54.8 per cent nationally; 568,800 had access to the public network outside the home but within the place of residence (8.9 per cent) and 243,241 had access to drinking water through a public standpipe. At the other extreme, 16.0 per cent of homes (1,024,654) used water from rivers, irrigation channels or springs and 8.1 per cent (515,589) obtained their supply from wells. For more details, see tables 7 to 9 of annex IV.

Access to adequate sewage services (please distinguish between the urban and rural population).

201. The 2007 Census revealed that 3,073,327 (48.0 per cent) of private homes with occupants possessed sanitation connected to the public sewage system, representing 48 per cent; and 1,396,402 homes (21.8 per cent) had a cesspool or latrine. Households using rivers, irrigation channels or canals for sanitation purposes totalled 114,074 (1.8 per cent), and homes lacking such a service numbered 1,110,779 (17.4 per cent). For more information, see tables 10 and 9 of annexes IV and V.

Children immunized against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanos, measles, polio and tuberculosis (with a breakdown by urban and rural areas and by socioeconomic group and sex).

202. According to the most recent figures available, the following percentage coverages were achieved in 2002:94.5 for polio; 94.8 for whooping cough; 95.2 for measles and 92.1 for tuberculosis. For more information, see tables 10 to 12 in annex V.

Life expectancy (with a breakdown by urban and rural areas and by socioeconomic group and sex).

203. Since 1950 the gross mortality rate in Peru has tended to fall, which is largely attributable to the decline of infant mortality. For more details, see tables 13 and 14 of annex V. The average age of death of a Peruvian is 52 years, while half the deaths in the country occur before the age of 63 – figures that vary in the interior of the country^[104].

204. Acute respiratory infections, disorders of the urinary system and circulatory diseases are the main causes of death, with rates of 83.5, 28.0 and 25.9 per 100,000 inhabitants respectively. Deaths by cirrhosis, events of undetermined cause (mainly traffic accidents), HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are more prevalent among men than among women

205. In the rural environment, deaths produced by events of undetermined cause, respiratory disorders among newborn children and emergency surgery pathologies such as apendicitis have mortality rates above the national average.

Proportion of pregnant women with access to trained staff during pregnancy and the proportion assisted by such staff at childbirth. Please give figures on maternal mortality rates, both before and after childbirth.

206. In the case of women with access to trained personnel during pregnancy, there has been an increase in maternal care: prenatal care and institutional births, particularly in rural areas. For more information, see tables 21 to 26 of annex VI.

207. In 1997, the number of recorded maternal deaths was 769, compared with 513 in 2007. For more information, see tables 17 to 19 of annex VI.

Proportion of children with access to health care by trained staff. (Please give a breakdown of data by urban and rural areas and by socio-economic groups).

Is it possible to say from the breakdown of any of the indicators used or by any other means whether there are some groups in the country whose state of health is considerably worse than that of the majority of the population? Please define these groups as precisely as possible, giving details. Which geographical areas of Peru, if any, are in a worse situation with regard to the health of the population?

209. The priority areas include the jungle, where the population is sparse and subject to many serious health problems because of climatic conditions favouring all kinds of tropical diseases. Responding to them is difficult because of the inaccessible nature of the areas where the native communities are located. The Sierra, for its part, contains scattered populations subject to extreme poverty, who are assisted sporadically and with great difficulty because of the financial cost of the operation.

Please indicate what measures Peru considers necessary to improve the state of mental and physical health of these vulnerable and disadvantaged groups or those living in these underprivileged areas.

210. The measures adopted by Peru that are identified as necessary in the Coordinated National Health Plan (2007) include: reduction of infant mortality by strengthening the National Immunization Strategy so as to ensure the financing of inputs and maintenance of the cold chain; adequate training for the treatment of transmissible diseases; and the inclusion of mental health benefits in the Universal Health Plan^[105].

211. At the same time, the Ministry of Health is providing care for children and adolescents who are the victims of violence, sexual abuse and child commercial sexual exploitation. Its approach involves training health-care workers, according to the levels of care: the primary level consists in the prevention, detection and referral of cases when required; the secondary level has involved implementing the Child Maltreatment Care Modules strategy, of which there are twelve nationwide^[106].

212. A Reparations Plan embodying the recommendations of the CVR exists to provide support to the victims of political violence. In the area of mental health, priority has been given to ten regions where implementation of the relevant provisions in the Plan takes place through mental health teams responsible for treating the victims of political violence.

213. With regard to highly impoverished sectors, the National Programme of Direct Support to the Poorestc– JUNTOS has identified three priority regions for mental health care, which is being provided through teams of mental health workers (nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists).

214. Other measures being implemented include: expansion and distribution of health service staff to the most needy sectors; information campaigns on generic medicines; involvement of regional and local government in expanding and improving health provision; redirecting public health spending towards the poorest areas, particularly rural ones; introducing educational measures within the community in the areas of food, nutrition, hygiene and the environment, using tested methods based on exchanges of practice (including the washing of hands by mothers and children, demonstrations of food preparation and support groups for breast-feeding mothers); promoting civic awareness of food and nutritional safety issues.

Please set out the political measures taken by Peru, within its available resources, to bring about this improvement. Please indicate the time targets and criteria for measuring achievements in this field.

215. In 1998, the first projects launched were focused on the remote populations located on the edge of the basins of the Huallaga Central and Alto Bravo rivers in San Martín and in the basins of the Ene and Tambo rivers in Junín. The aim was to provide community health care through a team consisting of technical and professional staff, linking up with existing local health providers.

216. In 1999, on the basis of the results of these pilot measures, the experiment was extended to 16 Health departments. In 2000, special attention was paid to organizing, developing and systematizing the experiment, strengthening monitoring and supervisory links.

217. In 2001, the Programme for the Administration of Management Agreements (PAAG) consolidated and operationalized the work of the Itinerant Local Extramural Health Teams (ELITES) as part of the strategy for improving the access, social service cover and wellbeing of the poorest sectors of the population. The ELITES are organized along standard lines and were introduced progressively throughout the Health Department’s networks or micro-networks of primary-care health facilities^[107].

218. As of December 2004, 152,946 new users had been enrolled at an average cost of 30 new soles for 2.15 treatments at 14.00 new soles per treatment.

219. In 2006, the number of AISPED teams was increased to 124^[108]. For more information, see tables 15 to 17 of annex V.

Please list the measures adopted by Peru to reduce still-births and infant mortality and foster child development.

220. It is clear that, despite the progress made, the gaps relating to levels of urbanization, age and education of mothers have not yet been bridged and are greater in rural than in urban areas. The Peruvian State is working on the basis of the following strategies and measures:

Please list the measures adopted by Peru to improve all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene.

221. The Peruvian State is working on the basis of the following strategies and measures: finalizing and integrating the overall framework of enviromental monitoring; finalizing the definition of pollution standards; improving management, monitoring and supervision of solid waste, polluting gases, chemical substances and ionizing and non-ionizing radiations; coordination of planning, preventive action and response to emergencies and natural disasters; involving the public in monitoring activities.

222. With regard to enviromental air quality, Act No. 28817 of July 2006 provides that the National Environment Council (CONAM), in its capacity as National Environmental Authority, is responsible drafting, revising and progressively adopting air quality standards and that the Department of Environmental Health of the Ministry of Health is charged with monitoring air quality and carrying out emission checks and epidemiological studies in coordination with the Technical Environmental Studies Groups^[109].

223. With regard to solid waste pollution, the National Solid Waste Management Plan requires the investment of a minimum of 100 million dollars, mainly in infrastructures, to ensure adequate collection and final disposal of solid waste at the national level^[110].

224. Concerning Persistent Organic Pollutants (COPs), Peru has recently drawn up a National Plan for Implementation of the Stockholm Convention. Imports of pesticide COPs for agricultural use have been banned.

225. While not prohibited for public health activities and for industrial, domestic and other uses, they have not ben employed for over ten years in keeping with the reports of the customs and other authorities. There is a problem of pesticide COPs entering through the northern border and Bolivia^[111].

226. In Peru, the registration, import and use of DDT for agricultural purposes has been expressly forbidden since 1991, and DDT has not been used for vector control for over ten years.

227. With regard to laboratory infrastructures, we have three public laboratories in SENASA, DIGESA and IMARPE, as well as certain universities such as the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Peru, the National Engineering University as well as 6 private laboratories that analyze pesticide COPs and PCBs. There are no more laboratories analyzing dioxines and heterocyclic compounds.

228. On 24 January 2007, in accordance with articles 1, 2 and 18 of Act No. 28964, the Energy and Mining Investment Regulator (OSINERGMIN) was established to regulate, supervise and oversee the activities of public or private law corporations and individuals in the electricity, hydrocarbons and mining sectors.

229. Any natural or legal person, private or public, who has incurred environmental liabilities in the hydrocarbons subsector will be responsible for the corresponding environmental compensation, on pain of sanction, and will be obliged to submit a clean-up plan to the Department of Environmental Energy Affairs of the Ministry of Energy and Mines^[112].

230. On 14 May 2008, the Ministry of the Environment was established under Legislative Decree No. 1013 to be the national governing body for environmental affairs, with responsibility for coordination at the local, regional and national government levels. The Ministry has merged with organizations such as CONAM and INRENA and is linked to bodies such as the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service – SENAMHI.

Please describe the measures adopted nationally to prevent, treat and combat epidemic, endemic, professional and other kinds of ailments.

231. The Peruvian State is working on the basis of the following strategies and measures:

Please describe the measures adopted to ensure medical care and medical services for all in case of illness.

234. The Peruvian State is working on the basis of the following strategies and measures^[113].

236. Strengthening the infrastructure of the health service networks and micro-networks:

238. Supreme Decree No. 077-2006-PCM issued on 31 October 2006 established that from January 2007 the management of primary health care would be transferred to local government through pilot projects to be undertaken in all departments and the Constitutional Province of Callao ^[114]. Also issued was Supreme Decree No. 027-2007-PCM, which adopted the priority projects with regard to decentralization.

Please indicate the measures adopted in Peru to ensure maximum increased community participation in the planning, organization, operation and monitoring of primary health care.

239. The Law on the Coordinated and Decentralized National Health System provides for the training and operation of the National Health Council, the Regional Health Councils and the Provincial and Local Health Systems. These forums for coordination are consultative in nature and are composed in the main of representatives of health service provider bodies. Civil society in the health sector and grass-roots social organizations are also represented on the basis of one representative for every seven or nine participants^[115].

240. With regard to benefits, Supreme Decree No. 01-94-SA regulates on the basis of the Shared Administration Programme (PAC) the constitution and operation of the Local Health Administration Communities (CLAS), which currently administer 35 per cent of the primary health-care facilities nationwide. The PAC decentralized, for the first time in the sector, the allocation and management of health-service resources, and has contributed in general to an improvement in quality and better use of public resources in establishments administered under this arrangement.

241. In recent decades, existing local organization and representation machinery has been developed in some regions, as in the case of the Community Health Monitoring System – SIVICOS^[116], the Communal Health Monitoring System – SIVICs, and health and development committees. In many cases, this machinery still needs to develop its capacities and achieve better links with central levels of political representation.

Please indicate if the Ministry of Health has a national physical or mental health plan and, if so, what degree of progress it has made to date in implementing it.

242. Under its National Mental Health Plan^[117], Peru has set itself the target for 2008 of treating 360.000 persons with mental health problems and training 160 primary health-care workers in the promotion and management of clinical guidelines for the prevention and treatment of mental health problems.

243. In the first half of 2008, a total of 176.868 patients were treated for mental health problems (49 per cent progress towards the target). Seven workshops have also been held, providing training in the management of mental health problems for 661 professionals at the primary-care level (56.9 per cent of the total target).

244. The approaches adopted include: the Multi-Annual Sectoral Strategic Plan (PIR); the Rapid Impact Plan; treatment for depression and other pathologies; and disaster relief measures.

245. With regard to activities under the Comprehensive Plan for Reparations with Respect to Mental Health and Violence, in the first half of 2008 eleven mental health teams made up of doctors, psychologists and nurses treated 70,745 cases (64 per cent progress) among the population affected by political violence ^[118].

246. In February 2008, the results of the project “Reinforcing Comprehensive Health Care for Persons affected by Violence and the Violation of Human Rights” were evaluated. The results were: 14,546 victims of violence identified and 13,832 treated^[119]. With the aim of implementing this Plan in the area affected by the 2007 earthquake (Ica Regional Health Department – Chincha Health Network – Pisco), the following results were obtained in the period January to March 2008: 80 primary-level health professionals trained in post-disaster relief; likewise 40 health promoters, community leaders, ONG representatives, and 90 primary- and secondary-school teachers

247. Exchange of experience between the Child Abuse Units – MAMI, involving 78 participants from the regions of Cuzco, Ayacucho, Madre de Dios, Loreto and Ica. Another positive step was the signing of a letter allocating budgetary support for the functioning of the Child Abuse Units.

248. Reports have been submitted to the High-Level Multisectoral Commission (CMAN) on activities in the sphere of mental health, together with the Results of the National Plan to Combat Violence against Women 2005-2007. A draft Guide for the Supervision of Rehabilitation Centres has also been drawn up with the participation of coordination meetings on its implementation, together with technical standards for the provision of comprehensive care to child and adolescent victims of violence and sexual abuse, and a technical directive for the functioning of the Child and Adolescent Abuse Units.

249. The Operational Plan under the Rapid Impact Plan for Combating Drugs -2008 has been drawn up in coordination with the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (DEVIDA), entitled “Strengthening and implementing programmes to care for persons consuming or dependent on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs at the national level”^[120].

250. In addition, 6 addiction units have been set up at: Tumbes (Zarumilla Health Centre), Andahuaylas (Talavera Local Health Committee) and Arequipa (Paucarpata, Zamacola, Edificadores Misti and Víctor Raúl Hinojosa Extension Health Centres) which will serve a population of 138,798 children, adolescents and young adults.

251. Peru possesses an Agreed National Health Plan, approved by Ministerial Decision No. 589-2007-MINSA of 20 July 2007.

With a view to achieving full realization of the right of everyone to education:

How does Peru comply with the obligation to provide compulsory primary education available free to all?

252. Education in Peru is compulsory for pupils at the initial, primary and secondary levels^[121]. Coverage in the educational system is currently nearly universal among those aged 6 to 11 (96.5%), with no great disparities by gender, area or poverty level. In 2007, the net coverage level in primary education reached 93.6 per cent^[122].

How far is access to higher education general in our country? What is the cost of this higher education? Has free education been established or is it being introduced?

253. State education is free, and the Higher Technological Institutes in the public sector therefore provide free education. Efforts are being made to broaden the coverage of State education, especially in rural areas. Thus anyone can apply for entry to a State university. Access to private universities is also common. Completion of secondary education is the requirement for admission to higher education. It should be added that the State covers the expenses of poor students throughout their degree course, subject to continuous satisfactory performance, thereby guaranteeing access to higher education free of charge to persons of limited means, in accordance with article 17 of the Peruvian Constitution.

254. Educational expenditure per student in the public sector includes current expenditure in educational establishments, plus the management costs of the executive units, plus a percentage for depreciation of fixed assets. In non-university higher education, the main cost reflects the fact that each section is staffed, on average, by 1.6 teachers working 40 hours, not forgetting the involvement of administrative staff. The gross teaching load of 14.5 pupils per teacher is largely explained by the fact that each teacher working a 40-hour week is only responsible for 22 hours of classes on average^[123].

What efforts have been made to establish a system of basic education for those who have not received primary education or who have not completed it entirely?

255. The National Literacy Mobilization Programme – PRONAMA (MED)^[124] has the task of developing activities aimed at eradicating illiteracy in the country. Its purpose is to provide reading, writing and basic maths skills to young people aged 15 and above who have not had proper access to education or who have lost those skills as a result of not using them. In the period 2006-2011, it is planned to reach two and a half million Peruvians in the hope that some 75 per cent will attain the skills in question. By achieving this target, it is hoped to keep the illiteracy rate in the country below 4 per cent^[125].

What are the difficulties encountered in realizing the right to education as defined in question 1? What time frame and what points of reference has our government fixed in that regard?

256. The main difficulty is the lack of financial resources to extend educational cover to all those persons who have not completed basic education. The aim is to provide literacy training for some 2,500,000 people and to integrate a significant percentage of them (an estimated 65 per cent of those graduating from literacy programmes) in Alternative Basic Education, so that they complete their primary education as a minimum^[126].

Statistical data on literacy training, enrolment in basic education with information on rural areas, adult education and continuing education, dropout rates at all educational levels (with a breakdown, if possible, by sex, religion, etc.). Please also supply information on measures adopted to promote literacy training, with data on the scope of the programmes, the target population, financing and enrolment, as well as statistics on graduation, by age, sex, etc.

257. The percentage of students aged 15 or over who have successfully studied one year or more in higher education is 31.1 per cent, representing an increase of 112 per cent compared with the figures reported in the 1993 Census. The number of persons with secondary education increased to 49.8 per cent, compared with 35.5 per cent in 1993 and 38.2 per cent in 2007. (Socio-demographic profile of Peru, 2007 Census, table 2.1, page 87 et seq. of annex IX).

258. Concerning place of residence, 37.9 per cent of the urban population gained entry to higher education, compared with only 6.2 per cent in rural areas. Again, 40.7 per cent of the urban population have secondary education, while the figure in rural areas is 28.9 per cent (Socio-demographic profile of Peru, 2007 Census, table 2.1, page 87 et seq. of annex IX).

259. By sex, 32 per cent of men gained entry to higher education in 2007, compared with 21.6 per cent in 1993. Women have also progressed since the proportion of women aged 15 or over with higher education has increased from 19.3 per cent in 1993 to 30.2 per cent. Finally, while 17.6 per cent of women and 6.7 per cent of men were without education in 2003, the percentages had been reduced to 10.8 per cent and 3.9 per cent in 2007 (Socio-demographic profile of Peru, 2007 Census, table 2.1, page 98 of annex IX).

260. In Peru there are 1,359,558 persons aged 15 or over who cannot read or write, which is equivalent to 7.1 per cent of this age group. Compared with 1993, this constitutes a reduction of 5.7 per cent. In absolute terms, the illiterate population has been reduced by 424,723. Gender disparities remain, since illiteracy among men stands at 3.6 per cent, compared with 10.6 per cent among women. However, in the period 1993 to 2007 between censuses, the rate of female illiteracy fell from 18.3 per cent to 10.6 per cent, that is to say, a decrease of 7.7 per cent compared with a 3.5 decrease in the rate for men, which fell from 7.1 to 3.6 per cent (Socio-demographic profile of Peru, 2007 Census, table 2.12, page 101 of annex IX).

261. Illiteracy affects 19.7 per cent of the population aged 15 or over in rural areas and 3.7 per cent in urban areas. Compared with the 1993 census, the reduction of 10.1 per cent in rural areas is greater than in urban areas, where it is 3.0 per cent.

262. The elder population is more affected, with 26.7 per cent of persons aged 65 and above compared with 2.2 per cent in the 20 to 29 age group and 1.3 per cent in the 15 to 19 age group. A comparison with the 2003 census shows a reduction in all age groups, particularly those aged between 40 and 69, with an incidence of 11.6 per cent (Socio-demographic profile of Peru, 2007 Census, table 2.14, page 103 of annex IX).

263. The 2007 census moreover reveals that 8,169,236 persons aged 3 to 24 attend an educational establishment^[127]. In the period 1993-2007 between censuses, the rate of school attendance among the population aged from 6 to 11^[128] and from 12 to 16 increased by 7.6 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively (Socio-demographic profile of Peru, 2007 Census, table 2.4, page 93 of annex IX).

Please provide information on the percentage of the budget (or, where necessary, regional budgets) devoted to education. Please describe your school system, your activity in the construction of new schools, the proximity of schools, above all in rural areas, as well as school lists

264. The education sector received 3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007, corresponding to 18.6 per cent of the national budget^[129]. For more information, see table 9 of annex VII.

265. The education budget allocated by the Government to state universities in 2008 amounted to 1,960,572.107 new soles (Act No. 29142 on the Public-Sector Budget for the Fiscal Year 2008), slightly more than triple that in 1995. This represnts a substantive increase in the funding sources that the universities are auto-generating, according to the National Assembly of Rectors (ANR). Thus, whereas in 1995 state universities operated with 85 per cent of their income deriving from the public purse and 15 per cent raised directly (RDR), en 2007 participation by the State had declined to 69 per cent and RDR had increased to 31 per cent^[130].

How far is equal access to the different levels of education and to measures to promote literacy enjoyed in practice? For example:

What is the proportion of men and women benefiting from the different levels of education and participating in these measures?

266. At the higher education level (23 years on average), the number of beneficiaries in 2006 was 597,759 (52.97 per cent men and 47.03 per cent women). According to ANR figures, 290,516 students were attended public universities, compared with 307,243 attending private ones^[131]. This indicates that there is no gender gap excluding women. In 2007, the number of people studying at university was 604,197 (estimated figure)^[132]. For information on other educational levels, please see table 2 of annex VII.

With regard to practical realization of the right to these educational levels and to measures to promote literacy, are there any specially vulnerable or disadvantaged groups? Please indicate, for example, how far young people, children from low-income groups, children in rural areas, young people who are physically or mentally handicapped, children of immigrants and migrant workers, children belonging to linguistic, racial, religious or other kinds of minorities, and children of Indian peoples enjoy the right to literacy and education as set out in article 12.

267. Especially vulnerable groups include women in rural areas who have failed to complete basic education and adolescents aged 9 to 18 sent out to work or mistreated.

268. To promote the literacy process, the following key native languages are used, in addition to Spanish, among vulnerable groups and linguistic minorities: Quechua Ayacucho-Chanka; Quechua Cusco-Collao; Aymara; Ashaninka; Shipibo; Aguaruna; Huambisa y Quechua Huanca.

269. However, according to the 2007 Census data, populations that have learned a native language in their childhood show high rates of illiteracy unlike those who have learned Spanish. 21.8 per cent of those who learned Quetchua in their childhood, 27.6 per cent of those who learned Ashaninka and 14.6 per cent of those who learned Aymara are illiterate, whereas the incidence is 4.3 per cent among those who learned Spanish. In rural areas these percentages increase. Educational opportunities are likewise more accessible to those who have learned Spanish in childhood since the 35.2 per cent studied in higher education as compared with 10.6 per cent of those who learned Quechua and 12.8 per cent who learned Aymara

What measures have been adopted or are due to be adopted to introduce or guarantee equality of access to all educational levels in your country – for example, in the form of antidiscriminatory measures or financial incentives, study grants and positive or affirmative measures? Please describe the effects of those measures.

270. Public policies of inclusion are gradually being developed with the aim of eliminating the gaps that can limit those affected for some reason. For example, consideration is being given under the Comprehensive Reparations Plan for Victims of Terrorism to awarding grants to recipients included in the unified register of victims^[133].

271. In the realm of financial incentives, as noted previously, provision was made under the JUNTOS programme for families to receive 100 soles, subject to their sending their children of school age to school regularly, a condition with which there was 93.4 per cent compliance in 2007.

Please describe the linguistic facilities provided in this regard, such as mother-language teaching.

272. With the aim of providing linguistic facilities, mother-language teaching includes, besides Spanish, the following major languages: Quechua Ayacucho – Chanka; Quechua Cusco – Collao; Aymara; Ashaninka; Shipibo; Aguaruna; Huambisa and Quechua Huanca.

Please describe the material conditions of teachers at all levels in our country, having regard to the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, adopted on 5 October 1966 by the Special Intergovernmental Conference on the Status of Teachers convened by UNESCO.

273. In higher technological education, there is no plan at national level for the technological training or updating of teachers. The Department of Higher Technological Education, in experimenting with a new Basic Curricular Design for Higher Technological Education, has been training teachers in the higher technological institutes participating in the experimental process. Through agreements with other institutions (such as the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation – INIA) and projects under the responsibility of DESTP (such as APROLAB), provision has been made for the training of teachers in higher technological institutes and techno-productive education centres. However, this is insufficient to meet the great demand for both higher technological education and technical-productive education

What measures has your country adopted or is intending to adopt to improve the living conditions of teachers?

274. Measures to train and professionalize teachers are being adopted through the following programmes: National ‘New Teacher’ Scholarship Programme^[134]; National Lifelong Training Programme – 2008^[135]; “Twenty-First-Century Teacher” Programme, under which 100,000 Peruvian teachers and school heads are receiving a laptop^[136]; Teacher Training Programme for other university graduates^[137]; and the Prtogramme of Specialized Academic Training for Teachers^[138].

What proportion of schools in our country have not been established and administered by the Government? Have those wishing to establish these schools or obtaining access to them encountered any difficulties?

275. Sevent-seven per cent of regular basic education schools are within the public sector^[139]. Anyone wishing to establish these schools or obtain access to them has had no difficulties. The adoption of Legislative Decree No. 882 (November 1996) on the promotion of private investment in education opened the legal possibility for educational establishments to exist on a profit-making basis, administered by their promoter or founder and basically subject to the law of the market.

276. Evaluation of the Multi-Annual Sectoral Strategic Plan – PESEM 2007–2011 has highlighted the main results of the educational management carried out in 2007 through the PESEM-approved indicators^[140]. The indicators showing significant fulfilment of targets include Net Coverage Rate at the Primary Level with an implementation rate of 93.6 per cent, Rate of Completion of Primary Education at the Official Age (11 to 13 years) with 77.6 per cent and Net Coverage Rate at the Secondary Level with 74.7 per cent.

During the period covered by the report, have there been changes in the national policies, laws and practices that adversely affect the right affirmed in article 13? If so, please describe these changes and evaluate their impact.

277. During the period covered by the report, there have been no changes in the national policies, laws and practices that adversely affect the right embodied in article 13.

Please describe the legislative and other measures adopted by your Government to realise the right of all to take part in the forms of cultural life they consider relevant and to express their own culture. In particular, please provide information on the following:

278. Relevant institutions include the National Music Conservatory, the National School of Fine Arts, the National School of Dramatic Arts and the National School of Ballet of Peru. These public institutions of higher education are academically, financially and administraively autonomous and train professional artists and teachers in the different artistic disciplines^[141].

Please describe the legislative and other kinds of measures adopted to realise the right of everyone to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, including those necessary for the conservation, development and diffusion of science. In particular, please provide information on the following:

Measures adopted to promote the dissemination of information on scientific progress.

279. Given that it is the duty of the State to promote Peru’s scientific and technological development, the competitive scholarship "Haya de la Torre" has been created by Supreme Decree No. 008-ED-2007 to enable young professionals to pursue their university studies in those scientific and technological subjects considered priorities for the development of the country, including agricultural research, metallurgical and genetic processing and systems engineering.

What measures has your Government adopted to conserve, develop and diffuse science and culture? Please describe in particular:

The legislative and other measures adopted to realize the right of anyone to enjoy protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific literary or artistic production of which he is the author, including facilitating the necessary conditions for scientific, literary and artistic activities and protection of the intellectual property rights resulting from those activities. What difficulties have affected the degree to which these rights have been realised?

280. The Law on Copyright^[142] grants protection to any intellectual production in the literary or artistic sphere that has the characteristics of originality and is able to be disseminated or reproduced by any means or procedure, known or to be discovered. Under Legislative Decree No. 822 the legislation on copyright was modernised so as to make it comply with Decision No. 351 of the Andine Community and new international trends, as well as to take account of the impact of the new technologies and the digital age. Legislative Decree No. 822 was modified by Legislative Decree No. 1076. At the same time, various penalties were introduced, targeting those who infringe copyright standards^[143].

281. In the area of criminal law, a special chapter was incorporated in 1991 in the new Criminal Code under Copyright Offences (arts. 216 a 221), providing among other penalties for deprivation of freedom and fines for anyone wholly modifying a work, reproducing it totally or partially, by whatever means or procedure, distributing it for sale, hire or public loan, communicating or disseminating it publicly by any means or procedure, or reproducing, distributing or communicating it in a greater number of copies than that authorized in writing^[144].

282. Peru also has a Strategic National Plan to Combat Customs Offences and Piracy 2005–2009^[145], which replaces the Strategic National Plan to Combat Contraband and Customs Fraud 20022006. Under this strategy, regional teams to combat customs offences and piracy have been set up in various parts of the country with the aim of furthering joint planning and prior coordination in the conduct of operations to be carried out by institutions within their sphere of competence at regional level^[146].

283. There is currently a major trade in Peru in copies of disks and books on which copyright duties have not been paid, so-called pirate works, giving rise to constant seizure operations by the police.

Please describe the legal, administrative and judicial system of your country aimed at respecting and protecting the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity, in particular:

Measures designed to promote enjoyment of this freedom including creation of all the conditions and facilities necessary for scientific research and creative activity

284. Consistent with the undertakings deriving from adherence to international agreements, as well as the entry into force of Andine Decision No. 351 of the Andine Community of Nations, among other factors, the various legislative reforms have been introduced, adapting standards to modern international trends.

285. Promotion of the scientific and technological development of the country is stipulated in article 14, paragraph 2, of the Constitution^[147]. Likewise, subparagraph 8 of article 2 provides for freedom of creation and access to culture^[148].

286. Since 1 December 2000, Decision No. 486 of the Commission of the Andine Community has come into force in Peru as a supranational provision establishing a common system of industrial property for the member countries of the Andine Community of Nations – CAN, which has agreed to incorporate the standards contained in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights – TRIPS

The measures adopted to guarantee freedom of exchange of scientific, technical and cultural information, opinions and experience among scientists, writers, creative workers, artists and other creative persons and their respective institutions.

287. The National Copyright Department, forming part of the National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI), has been furthering and promoting nationally, through various campaigns with the private sector and with the associations of the various cultural industries and societies of authors, composers, artists, etc., a culture of respect for intellectual property rights in general^[149].

288. At the same time, the Department of Inventions and New Technologies, with the aim of furthering the development of inventions, has published bibliographical information on the Internet about the delivery of patents on inventions, as well as the complete text of the decisions on the granting of such patents and the rest of the Department's decisions^[150].

Measures adopted to support cultural societies, scientific academies, professional associations, trade unions and other organizations and institutions dedicated to scientific research and creative activities.

289. The National Copyright Department^[151], as the sole responsible body, authorizes collective rights management bodies and oversees their management activities.

290. Collective rights management societies, which defend the fundamental principles of copyright, have today become essential entities for establishing, monitoring, collecting and distributing the rights of representation and public performance, television broadcasting and mechanical reproduction. Peruvian law accordingly authorizes the holders of copyright and related rights to create such societies^[152].

Have there been any changes in national policies, laws and practices over the last eight years that adversely affect the rights affirmed in article 15? If so, please describe these changes and assess their repercussions.

291. Legislative reforms on intellectual property rights seek to ensure effective protection of those rights, as well as to provide an incentive to creative activity, which includes combating piracy, that is to say, the reproduction and sale of creative works (generally books or records) without authorization or payment of the appropriate dues. It should be noted that combating this offence, as well as other criminal activities such as smuggling and counterfeiting, has today been declared of public interest.

292. Specialized courts have been created for customs and intellectual property offences, bringing such illegal activities under the jurisdiction of the National Criminal Court for Offences against Human Rights and Crimes against Humanity. In addition, the Public Prosecutor’s Department has established Special Prosecutors’ Offices.

293. As indicated, no changes in national legislation have been prejudicial to any of the rights affirmed in the aforementioned legal provisions^[153].

National provisions against discrimination in the field of economic, social and cultural rights

1. Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Peruvian Constitution establishes the right to nondiscrimination in the terms set forth in the Convention:

“Every person has the right: ... to equality before the law. No person shall be discriminated against on the basis of origin, race, sex, language, religion, opinion, economic situation or any other reason.”

2. Article 2, paragraph 19, on the fundamental rights of individuals, guarantees the right to ethnic and cultural identity and expresses the State’s acknowledgement and commitment to the protection of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the nation.

3. The Constitution also provides guarantees for the effective protection of human rights by means of procedures that may be initiated by any citizen. To protect the right to nondiscrimination, article 200, paragraph 2, provides for amparo proceedings as a guarantee against any act or omission by any authority, official or person which violates or threatens fundamental human rights.^[154]

4. The Constitutional Court^[155] has succeeded in establishing important judicial precedents^[156] concerning the protection and respect of human rights in Peru. In its judgement in case No. 0261-2003-AA/TC,^[157] the Court develops the concepts of equality, equality before the law and differentiation, noting that “the notion of equality should be viewed as existing on two converging planes. On the first, it constitutes a guiding principle for the organization and action of a democratic State operating under the rule of law. On the second, it constitutes a fundamental right of the individual”.

5. In numerous executory judgements,^[158] the Constitutional Court has defined its judicial approach to the right to equality and has established that it is a principle and a right that places people, under identical conditions, on an equivalent footing. This entails conformity or identity based on a matching nature, circumstance, quality, quantity or form such that no exceptions or privileges are granted that would deny one person access to the rights conferred upon another within the same time frame or for the same reason.

6. Article 8 of the General Education Act (No. 28044)^[159] provides that people are the “centre of and major stakeholder in the educational process” and is based, inter alia, on the principle of inclusiveness, which “embraces persons with disabilities and excluded, marginalized and vulnerable social groups, especially in rural areas, regardless of ethnic identity, religion, sex or other cause of discrimination, thereby contributing to the elimination of poverty, exclusion and inequalities”. Article 18 instructs the State to develop and implement education projects having objectives, strategies, measures and resources directed towards reversing situations of inequality and/or inequity based on origin, ethnic group, gender, language, religion, opinion, economic status, age or any other such factor.

7. Article 14 of the Code on Children and Adolescents, adopted by Act No. 27337,^[160] requires education authorities to take the necessary steps to prevent any form of discrimination.

8. Act No. 26772,^[161] on the prevention of discrimination in employment and access to education and training, provides that vacancy announcements may not contain any requirement that would constitute discrimination or that would negate or affect equality of opportunity or treatment. Under the Act, any requirements for employment or for enrolment in technical and professional training courses that are based on race, sex, religion, opinion, social origin, economic status, marital status, age or any other such factor are considered as discriminatory. The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion is authorized to investigate such cases, identify the responsible parties and impose the corresponding administrative sanctions.

9. While it may seem that this limits employers’ decision-making power, by requiring them to base their decisions on, essentially, criteria related to job qualifications, the law’s objective is not to do away with an employer’s freedom of contract but simply to reconcile it with the right to equality by seeking to ensure that staff selection is reasonable and is justified by the merits and aptitudes of job-seekers.

10. The implementing regulations^[162] for Act No. 26772 state that the prohibition of discrimination in employment and access to education and training^[163] applies to employers, education and training providers, and employment agencies and other employment intermediaries. The regulations also make it obligatory for media that advertise vacancies and educational or training opportunities to furnish the necessary information to the administrative labour authority and to facilitate any investigation undertaken by that authority. They also cite certain situations that do not constitute discriminatory practices because they have an objective and reasonable basis. People may therefore report instances of discrimination to the administrative labour authority and submit the relevant evidence, which, in the case of discriminatory materials distributed through the media, will be a copy of the advertisement alleged to contain a discriminatory personnel selection criterion.

11. Article 30 (f) of the consolidated amended text of Legislative Decree No. 728, on labour competitiveness and productivity,^[164] classifies acts of discrimination based on sex, race, religion, opinion or language as hostile acts that can be equated with dismissal.

12. The regulations implementing the General Act on the Labour Inspectorate^[165] authorize the Labour Inspection Directorate of the Regional Labour and Employment Directorate for Lima and Callao to investigate discrimination in job advertisements and in labour relations, and empower the directorates for dispute prevention and settlement of the labour and employment directorates, or the equivalent body, as appropriate, to do so in the other departments of Peru.

13. Article 31.3 of these regulations classifies the following acts as very serious violations of employment and recruitment rules: the advertisement and publication, through any medium, of vacancy announcements that contain discriminatory elements based on origin, race, colour, sex, age, language, religion, opinion, nationality, social origin, economic status, the exercise of freedom of association, disability, infection with HIV or any other such factor. Article 48 contains provisions concerning the severity and application of the corresponding penalties.

14. Although a consumer protection law does exist (Legislative Decree No. 716),^[166] the consolidated amended text adopted in Supreme Decree No. 039-2000-ITINCI^[167] contains the most comprehensive provisions on consumer and user rights. The decree establishes a number of consumer rights, including the right to access to a variety of competitively priced goods and services and the right to protection of consumers’ pecuniary interests through fair and equitable treatment in all commercial transactions. To this end, it establishes the right of consumers to be free of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, socio-economic status, language, disability, political preferences, religious beliefs or any other such factor in connection with the acquisition of goods and services made available in establishments open to the public.

15. Act No. 27049^[168] adds article 7-B to Legislative Decree No. 716, which states that consumers may not be the object of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, socio-economic status, language, disability, political preferences, religious beliefs or any other such factor in connection with the acquisition of goods and services made available in establishments open to the public. An objective rationale relating to the safety of the establishment or clients’ tranquillity or other duly substantiated reasons must be given for any instance of exclusion.

16. The burden of proof concerning unequal treatment is borne by the consumer in question or by his or her representative.^[169] Precedents have been set in regard to penalties for establishments employing discriminatory practices.^[170] Cases of discrimination may be reported to the Consumer Protection Commission of the National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) by any natural or legal persons who feel that their right as a consumer to be treated fairly and equitably has been infringed upon.

17. In the area of consumer protection in advertising, Legislative Decree No. 1044, on unfair competition, has recently entered into force. The decree seeks to put a stop to advertisements that may give rise to acts of discrimination and to safeguard the educational role of commercial advertising.

18. Under the framework law on the modernization of the State, Act No. 27658,^[171] the Government of Peru has set about modernizing its various agencies, offices, entities, organizations and procedures to improve governance and build a democratic, decentralized State at the service of its citizens. It has also established principles, measures, mechanisms and tools for doing so.

19. In keeping with these goals and as befits a democratic State, all civil servants must respect the Constitution and applicable laws, specifically the Civil Service Ethics Code set forth in Act No. 27815^[172] and its accompanying regulations,^[173] in the performance of their duties. Any civil servant who engages in a discriminatory act will thus be violating both the Constitution and the Code, thereby incurring occupational liability for a sanctionable act.^[174]

20. Regional and local governments have been introducing regulations^[175] that contribute to the progressive development of human rights. Specific mention may be made of a number of initiatives relating to discrimination. Ordinance No. 002-2008-A-MPA of the provincial municipality of Abancay,^[176] which prohibits discrimination in all areas, is a landmark statute because it is the first of its kind in the country. This provision recognizes the equality of human beings and bans all forms of discrimination by reason of race, sex, religion, activity, health status, disability, place of origin or residence, age, language or any other factor.

21. Attention should be drawn to the work of the regional government of Apurímac, which has issued Regional Ordinance No. 017-2008-CR-APURÍMAC^[177] in order to prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination. The particular importance of this regulation lies in the fact that it makes non-discrimination a cross-cutting issue in all human rights initiatives undertaken by that government and its various institutions.

22. Other local governments have been working along the same lines and have issued ordinances prohibiting discrimination. Examples include the district municipality of San Juan Bautista in Ayacucho,^[178] the provincial municipality of Huamanga in Ayacucho^[179] and the district municipality of Miraflores in Lima.^[180]

23. Discrimination is characterized as a criminal offence under article 323, chapter IV, title XIV-A: Crimes against humanity, of the Criminal Code:

“Any person who directly or indirectly discriminates against one or more individuals or group of persons, or who publicly incites or promotes acts of discrimination by reason of race, religion, sex, genetic factors, parentage, age, disability, language, ethnic or cultural identity, clothing, political or other opinion, or economic status for the purpose of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of their rights shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of no less than two and no more than three years or to the performance of from 60 to 120 days of community service.

If the agent is a civil or public servant, the sentence shall be no less than two and no more than four years, in addition to disqualification as provided for under article 36, paragraph 2.

The same term of imprisonment shall be imposed if the act of discrimination has been carried out by means of physical or mental violence.”

1. As a result of the strong increase in gross domestic product, the demand for labour by regular firms of 10 or more workers in urban areas expanded significantly (8.3 per cent in 2007) in practically all economic activities.

Table 1