The emotional drawings of girls and boys affected by the rains and floods in Peru [Photo gallery]

• The art of children in the populated center of Simbilá, in Piura, captures the fear, concern, and sadness generated by the climate emergency.

In the context of the rains and floods that affected northern Peru in 2023, Save the Children organized drawing sessions to capture the perceptions and feelings of children about how the climate emergency has impacted their lives and their rights. These sessions also aimed to document their insights into how they are preparing to face these emergencies, which are becoming increasingly frequent and intense.

This activity resulted in a series of emotional drawings that serve as a stark testimony to the urgent need to protect children and adolescents in the most vulnerable areas of the country, who are now additionally threatened by the potential effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

The drawings were created by boys and girls from the Populated Center of Simbilá, Catacaos district, Piura region, one of the regions most severely affected by the emergency in early 2023. According to official figures from the National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI), the rains and floods this year directly affected 25,919 children. 32% of this total reside in Piura, and 22% in Lambayeque.

Furthermore, Piura has 166 out of the 979 schools that suffered infrastructure damage. Another 83 schools are located in Lambayeque, and 61 in La Libertad, all regions in the north. The rains also contributed to the proliferation of the dengue epidemic, which resulted in 418 deaths nationwide. Of this total, 47 victims were children or adolescents, including 18 from the Piura region, 10 from Lambayeque, and 6 from La Libertad.