The project utilized a Humanists International grant to establish Peru’s first legally recognized entity dedicated to providing professional humanist ceremony services. To launch the initiative, the organization invested in comprehensive training materials for its new officiants and developed targeted advertising and promotional media. The implementation strategy focused on B2B networking, specifically visiting and pitching to local wedding planning companies to integrate humanist services into their official vendor catalogues. Designed with long-term sustainability in mind, the newly established entity operates under a social enterprise model, where a portion of the commercial revenue generated from weddings and memorial services directly funds the advocacy work of the parent association.
Problem/Issue:
Peru completely lacks any institutions or trained personnel to conduct humanist life-cycle events, leaving non-religious individuals who want to celebrate marriages or mourn loved ones with no meaningful alternatives and often forcing them to utilize traditional religious services against their personal beliefs.
No. of beneficiaries: 1500
Impact:
The initiative successfully established the structural and legal groundwork for secular lifecycle options in Peru, creating a trained cohort of humanist officiants capable of delivering meaningful milestone ceremonies. By producing dedicated advertising materials and successfully embedding their services within professional wedding planning networks, the project bridged a major market gap and gave non-religious citizens formal visibility. Ultimately, the project created a self-sustaining funding mechanism that protects the freedom of conscience of non-religious Peruvians while simultaneously securing a continuous stream of independent revenue to fuel the local humanist movement.
