By Carla Samon Ros Iquitos, Peru, Nov 24 (EFE).- “I got scared,” 16-year-old Elita says, recalling the fateful day when an ultrasound confirmed her fears of being pregnant. Like her, more than 273,000 girls and adolescents have become new mothers over the past five years in Peru, a country where teen pregnancy rates show no …
By Carla Samon Ros Lima, Nov 2 (EFE).- Every 10 minutes, a teenager is forced to become a mother in Peru, an occurrence that drives early marriages in the Andean country. Early marriage is a common practice that is protected by law and native ancestral customs in Peru, forcing the new generations of Indigenous female …
By Carla Samon Ros Lima, Oct 11 (EFE).- Tania and Sofia are a pair of Peruvian teenagers who were born in different parts of that Andean nation yet share a common vision: to protect women from harm and encourage other girls and female adolescents to make themselves heard in a male-dominated society. Tania’s voice is …
By Carla Samon Ros Lima, Sep 5 (EFE).- The Amazon region’s ability to restore itself is being exhausted and, if the current rate of deforestation continues, saving the “planet’s green lung” must begin before 2025, according to a report laying out global strategies to protect 80 percent of the Amazon’s forests, a challenge that the …
By Carla Samon Ros Lima, Jul 19 (EFE).- A hyper-polarized campaign, a victory by the slimmest of margins and allegations of election fraud presaged a rocky road ahead for Pedro Castillo, who was proclaimed Peru’s president-elect one year ago. And the nearly 12 months since the leftist head of state took office have been a …