YouthBuild program planning begins in Iquitos, Peru

YBI has been invited by the Bernard Van Leer Foundation to organize a planning process with partners in Iquitos, Peru to adapt the YouthBuild model for local application. Iquitos is the largest city in the world not accessible by roads,  with the majority of the population living in communities along the river banks of the Amazon, Itaya and Nanay rivers.  This next stage of work follows up on the strong interest in YouthBuild expressed by young people and local  youth serving NGOs during the course of a workshop that was held in Iquitos this past summer which YouthBuild was asked to attend by the BVLF.  The envisioned YouthBuild pilot will position young people in local communities to have direct input into planning processes focused on infrastructure planning and to play direct role in rebuilding community infrastructure.  Young people have also identified the reduction of violence against children as a top priority and continue to take action in their communities to ensure that children grow up in safe, healthy physical environments.