Peru redirects cash from arms to children

Peru today pledged to slash its military spending by 20 per cent and spend that money instead on poverty alleviation programmes aimed particularly at mothers and children. Speaking at the United Nations Special Session on Children, Peruvian President Dr. Alejandro Toledo said the savings would be spent on nutrition, health, education and job creation.

The principal aims are to reduce malnutrition and illiteracy, cut infant and maternal mortality, improve access to education and basic services and increase special protection for children and adolescents, particularly those living in difficult circumstances. A National Plan of Action for Children 2002-2010 has been prepared to reach these goals.

"Peru is a young country with 40.4 per cent under 15," President Toledo told the Special Session. "The most frightening statistics on poverty and social exclusion concern children and young people from rural areas in the mountains and jungles. It is also there where we suffer the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality."

In an interview with UNICEF after his statement, President Toledo explained that the cut in military spending was a way to translate this week's promises into action. "I know [these proposals] may sound generic if we don't find creative ways of obtaining funds to invest," he said. "This is why I pledge that my government has decided to reduce its military spending."

He also drew the links between poverty and security. "Poverty is related to the strength of democracy," he said. "Poverty could undermine fragile democracies in the developing world such as Peru. So if we believe in freedom and democracy and human rights, we need to confront poverty."