Food Complementation Program (PCA)

It is the Program that provides food support to its users through the Attention Centers grouped in its various modalities.

The Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (Midis) dictates the management guidelines and measures necessary to fulfill the objectives of the PCA. It is executed in a decentralized manner through 238 local governments (195 provincial governments in the interior of the country and 43 district governments in Metropolitan Lima).

Modalities of the Food Complementation Program (PCA)

• Canteens: they are grassroots social organizations made up of people whose main activity is food preparation and social support. They can be a popular dining room, a mothers' club dining room, a parish dining room and other similar ones. The Grassroots Social Organization must be recognized as such by the municipality of its jurisdiction, in accordance with Law No. 25307 , Law No. 27731 and their respective Regulations. In the canteen modality, the Attention Centers receive a subsidy destined exclusively for the preparation of food.
• Homes – Shelters: organizations with legal status that shelter girls, boys, adolescents and people who are victims of moral or physical violence, in a state of abandonment, providing protection and shelter, thus providing them with a space so that they can sleep and stay for a certain period. These institutions must be certified and/or accredited by the relevant State entity.
• People at risk : organizations with legal status that welcome and provide protection to girls, boys, adolescents, youth, women, men and the elderly who are victims of moral or physical violence, and/or have some type of physical or mental disability . Like the previous modality, these organizations must be accredited by the relevant State entity.
• Communal Work: group of people who organize themselves to voluntarily carry out a work for the benefit of their community. The proposed work must be evaluated and verified by the local government that delivers the food supplement, and must not last more than two months.
• Food and Nutrition Program for Patients with Tuberculosis and Family (PANTBC): it is executed through the health centers of the Ministry of Health (Minsa). It provides users with a basket of raw foods, which constitutes a food supplement that contributes to their comprehensive recovery .

Participants in PCA management and their functions

Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (Midis):

• Establish management guidelines and necessary measures to fulfill the objectives of the program.
• Formulate policies, general regulations and technical regulations of national scope for the processes of execution, supervision, follow-up, monitoring and evaluation of the program.
• Develop, regulate and keep updated the information systems required for the exercise of PCA management.
• Approve, sign and supervise the Management Agreement, in accordance with current regulations on the matter.
• Create or modify PCA modalities.
• Issue technical opinion regarding the management and administration of the Program, as well as the allocation and transfer of budget resources to local governments.
• Train and provide permanent technical assistance to local governments, Local Management Committees and service centers for the correct management of the PCA.
• Promote the generation of opportunities and/or capacities of the Grassroots Social Organizations for the improvement of the service and the increase of their autonomous income.
• Monitor and evaluate the compliance of local governments with the regulations and policies issued by the Midis.
• Determine the budget distribution criteria assigned to the Program for each local government.
• Adopt measures in case of detecting irregularities in the management of the PCA by local governments, so that these are reversed.

Local government:

• Sign and comply with the Management Agreement approved by Midis.
• Use the PCA budget as established in the respective legal framework.
• Verify, in coordination with the Grassroots Social Organizations (OSB), in the Popular Kitchens modality, the consistency of the information in the User Register, in accordance with the criteria established by the Midis.

Additionally, local governments commit in the Management Agreement, to the following points as a minimum:

• Comply with the guidelines, directives and/or other management document in accordance with the regulations issued by the Midis.
• Guarantee compliance with the objectives and operational phases of the PCA.
• Inform the Midis of the balances in the budget with which it attends to each modality of the PCA.
• Recognize the care centers that are part of the PCA, in a timely manner, in accordance with the procedure established by the Midis.
• Ensure the timely provision of food to PCA care centers.
• Guarantee compliance with the obligations of the attention centers with respect to the PCA, applying the corrective and/or sanctioning measures, in accordance with the guidelines and/or criteria established by the Midis.
• Update and timely communicate the information about the PCA care centers to the Midis.
• Provide permanent technical assistance to care centers, regarding the PCA.
• Facilitate the generation of opportunities and/or capacities of the Grassroots Social Organizations to improve the service and increase their autonomous income.
• Respect the autonomy of management and organization of the Grassroots Social Organizations that provide food support.
• Ensure the installation of the Local Management Committee within forty-five (45) calendar days of the beginning of each fiscal year.
• Only consider as valid the agreements of the Local Management Committee within the management of the PCA.
• Inform the Local Management Committee, regarding the budget execution, the process of purchase, distribution, supervision and others that are related or requested by said committee.
• Submit the information requested by the Midis in a timely manner.

Management Committee:

It is a participation instance made up of 6 members: 3 from the Grassroots Social Organizations, 2 from the local government that executes the program and 1 representative of the public institution determined by the five previous members, who helps to guarantee an adequate choice of food. that will make up the rations, taking into account their nutritional values, among other technical aspects.