Our Country Director, Rodrigo Velarde, joined the final episode of the first season of the children’s video podcast to explain how collaboration among institutions is essential to protecting people’s health from lead and mercury exposure.
How do we achieve meaningful change? At Pure Earth, the answer is through collaboration. With that message, Rodrigo Velarde, Country Director of Pure Earth Peru, joined the episode dedicated to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17: Partnerships for the Goals of the children’s video podcast Morlen Show as a special guest.
Produced by Morlen Studios, the program introduces the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to children and their families through educational, engaging, and entertaining content. Its mission is to help younger generations understand global challenges from an early age and recognize the role each person can play in building a more sustainable future.
Partnerships as a Driver of Change
During the episode, Velarde explained that strategic partnerships and teamwork are essential for developing sustainable solutions to complex challenges.
As an example, he highlighted the work of Pure Earth Peru across its main programs. In the area of lead exposure, he emphasized the organization’s collaboration with Peru’s Ministry of Health to strengthen health surveillance systems and improve comprehensive prevention and care, helping reduce lead exposure and protect the health of children throughout the country.
He also described how, in Madre de Dios, collaboration with mining concessions—including the Women MAPE Network of Madre de Dios—has been key to building trust and promoting the adoption of cleaner technologies that replace mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. These efforts help protect public health, improve working conditions for miners, and reduce the environmental impacts of mining.
“Public health challenges related to lead and mercury exposure can only be addressed effectively when different stakeholders work toward a common goal. Collaboration among government institutions, the private sector, international partners, and local communities allows us to develop sustainable solutions and protect people’s health. That is the spirit of SDG 17 and the way we work every day at Pure Earth,” said Rodrigo Velarde.
For Pure Earth Peru, participating in initiatives designed for children is an opportunity to make complex topics easier to understand and inspire younger generations to recognize that collaboration is an essential tool for building healthier communities and a safer future for everyone.
The full episode of Morlen Show is now available on YouTube and marks the conclusion of the podcast’s first season, which introduced Peruvian children to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
