Bishop Juan José Larrañeta of Puerto Maldonado, who is secretary-general of the conference and president of the campaign, said that the funds collected during the campaign would be allocated to the needs of the mothers and their children.
The Church will collaborate in the integral formation of young mothers, so that they themselves will be able to earn their income and educate their children.
The country’s bishops established the Solidarity and Sharing Campaign in 1990 to respond every year to Peruvian society’s most urgent needs.
Government sources say that two out of every 10 women who give birth in Peruvian hospitals are adolescents between the ages of 10 to 19. Peru has one of the highest rates of adolescent maternity in South America. Many of the adolescents come from the poorest sectors of society and are victims of sexual abuse.
