The Instituto de Formación de Adolescentes y Niños Trabajadores (INFANT) was founded in 1999 by the child run movement Movimiento Nacional de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Trabajadores Organizados del Perú (MNNATSOP). Today, INFANT works with both employed and unemployed children. It envisions a world in which all children and young people of Peru know and exercise their rights responsibly, to be able to make decisions for their present and future. INFANT’s main goals are: a) To support grassroots organizing of the children and youth through the collaborative design and implementation of agroecological and eco-technological projects, b) To build and provide capabilities for political advocacy for children and youth living in impoverished areas, c) To support children and youth in taking action to prevent gender-based violence and sexual trafficking.

Located both in the surroundings of Lima and Belén, in the Peruvian Amazon, INFANT provides training and education for children and young people through emancipatory pedagogical practices. A special feature of INFANT’s work has been their role in supporting the creation of impactful child-led grassroots groups comprising 447 children in Lima and 461 in Iquitos. One of the child leaders of this initiative was nominated to the International Children Peace Prize in 2016. Also, the “Guardians of the Itaya River” group successfully lobbied to begin a boat-based garbage collection throughout water bound Belen, which is the first policy to reduce trash and pollution in the Itaya river.