Strengthening community health worker leadership in the Peruvian Amazon

Mamás del Río is a community-based intervention that, since 2015, has strengthened maternal and child health in the Peruvian Amazon by empowering community health workers. In July 2024, a leadership workshop was conducted with 24 Indigenous community health workers, employing participatory and intercultural methodologies. The workshop was structured in three stages: 1) participatory diagnosis, 2) capacity building, and (3) strategic planning. As a result, key challenges were identified, and an action plan was developed focusing on partnership development, economic sustainability, and organizational strengthening of the Asociación de Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Intercultural de Loreto. This experience highlights the potential of community empowerment in rural settings and underscores the fundamental role of community health workers in Amazonian health systems.