President Ollanta Humala said Friday that the government will launch the Cuna Mas social program during the weekend.
“Cuna Mas will be a reality tomorrow,” Humala said by Twitter. “We will provide comprehensive attention to the boys and girls who are at risk.”
The government says that by 2016 the program will be providing support to some 240,000 babies between three and six months old who have been born into poverty and extreme poverty, state news agency Andina said. This year, the program will cover children in four departments, mostly in the Andean highlands.
The program is being launched in Peru’s southern Ayacucho department, one of the country’s poorest regions. Humala is to travel to the district of Socos, located in Ayacucho, accompanied by Social Inclusion minister Carolina Trivelli on Saturday to launch the program.
Trivelli said the program will provide two services, including providing house calls by health professionals and day care services for children less than 36 months old.
Humala took office last July with promises to implement a number of social programs to promote sustainable development and improve “social inclusion.” About 30 percent of Peru’s population lives in poverty. However, that rate is much higher in isolated, rural areas in the highlands and jungle.
