The Peru Support Group is an independent NGO that works with Peruvian groups and an international network to defend human rights, to promote social inclusion and sustainable development and to strengthen democracy.
Drawing on our international network of expert researchers and grassroots groups, we produce research and organise events to inform, debate and improve policy.
From our base in London, we work with allies in Peru and across Europe to advocate positive change and ensure governments and corporations are held to account.
We draw attention to poverty and human rights issues in Peru by providing, through our website and newsletter, timely news and analysis to an international network of policymakers, researchers and civil society groups.
We monitor legislation, governance and implementation of public policy in these areas of concern.
As an international financial centre and the home to major mining corporations, the UK plays a critical role in Peru. The UK is the first foreign investor in Peru. The British government also wields power in international institutions like the G8, World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and latterly the European Union, making it a major player in rules on transparency, human rights and trade.
The Peru Support Group was established 30 years ago, when people in southern Peru faced human rights violations on a daily basis during the internal conflict, which left 70,000 people dead. The PSG played a major role in bringing those abuses to public attention in the UK and other European countries. We have since been intimately involved in the process of researching and disseminating the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which exposed the extent of human rights violations.
In the 1980s, the PSG was active in groundbreaking attempts to renegotiate Peruvian debt and to channel resources into poverty relief. During the 1990s, alongside a variety of organisations elsewhere in Europe, we highlighted democratic transgressions during the Fujimori period, providing a platform for Peruvian activists to campaign for the restoration of democracy.
Since the fall of Fujimori in 2000, we have played a key role in exposing the problems associated with extractive industries, particularly in the mining sector. The report of the PSG parliamentary delegation to the Río Blanco mine, owned by the British company Monterrico Metals, was instrumental in defending the rights of peasant communities in northern Peru. As a result of PSG involvement, local communities won an important out-of-court settlement compensating them for human rights violations.
More recently we have increased our coverage of human rights in Amazonia – particularly those associated with oil and gas, forestry, environment.
The Peru Support Group is run on a day-to- day basis by the coordinator, Ana Reyes-Hurt. Ana conducts our parliamentary and other lobbying work, with a focus on human rights, extractive industries and human rights defenders. Prior to joining the PSG, Ana worked in the Americas region of Amnesty International, as campaigner for human rights defenders across Latin America and the Caribbean. She has been working for the PSG for over four years.
The president of the Peru Support Group is Lord John Alderdice, a Liberal Democrat in the House of Lords with a background in Northern Island politics. Many international honours have been awarded to him. In particular in 1999 he was awarded the Silver Medal of Congress of Peru and the Medal of Honour, College of Medicine of Peru (he is a consultant psychiatrist). The vice-president is Rosemary Thorp, emeritus fellow of Saint Anthony’s College Latin American Centre, Oxford University, an economist and economic historian and former Chair of Oxfam GB.
The elected steering committee provides advice and oversight and comprises:
The Peru Support Group is an independent, non-profit organisation. It is not a charity. It is currently funded by CAFOD, our members and volunteer fundraisers. It also receives occasional funding from other sources.
The Peru Support Group (PSG) is an independent NGO that works with Peruvian civil society organisations and international network(s) to defend human rights, to promote social inclusion and sustainable development and to strengthen democracy. It does this in various ways:
In the course of its work ‘our representatives’ must conform to the PSG policies given here which have the following sections: Values, Grievances and Complaints, Working Practices, Safeguarding, Publications, Data Protection, Finance, Fraud and Loss.
To this end the ‘representatives’ must be shown these policies and record that they have received and understood it. ‘Our representatives’ here include our employed staff (in particular, the PSG Coordinator), members of the management committee, volunteers, consultants, and any ‘agent’ who carries out outreach and research activities in the name of the PSG.
The management committee has the responsibility to promote and uphold the policies by ensuring that those that represent the PSG are aware of what is expected of them when conducting or speaking on behalf of the PSG.
Policy breaches should in the first instance be reported to the Coordinator, or if that is not appropriate to the Chair of the management committee or if that is not appropriate to another member of the management committee or the Vice President.
Peru Support has links with many organisation. In some cases these links are very close as we consult with them regularly and at times work with them on projects.
Contact us either via our contact details or by using the contact form.
Contact us if you would like to receive our new articles in the form of our weekly Newsletter.
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Lord Brenan QC
Ann Clwyd MP
Linda Fabiani MSP
Richard Howitt
Simon Hughes
Reverend Ed O'Connell
Hugh O'Shaughnessy
Professor William Rowe
Rosemary Thorp CBE
Wendy Tyndale
Graham Greene
Ana Reyes-Hurt
Tel: +44 (0) 7936 631 932
Email: coordinator@perusupportgroup.org.uk
Skype: peru.support.group