Guatemala

The Joint Programme is working towards the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals through its involvement in integrated water management in urban and rural areas of the Mam Region, Guatemala. It is looking to reassess the role and contribution of the Mam communities in the design and implementation of Government public initiatives, through improved dialogue and the promotion of a public services management system that will help guarantee wider provision and access to water and sanitation, in addition to promoting the availability of this resource and its eventual effective distribution.

Guatemala has the highest prevalence of stunting of children under 5 in Latin America, ranking fourth worldwide, and its national undernutrition rate is the highest in Latin America. The proposed programme has the following aims: At the rural and indigenous community levels, to improve production of foods for consumption at the household level and for sale, to improve feeding behaviours, to promote healthy environments and to contribute gender equity.

The purpose of the Joint Programme is to develop environmental governance mechanisms to strengthen the capacity for adaptation to climate change in Guatemala, especially for the most vulnerable and poorest of the population.

After 36 years of civil war, new dynamics of violence have emerged in Guatemala which seriously threaten the country’s socio-political stability, and affect human development and the achievement of the MDGs. Since 1999, the country’s murder rate has increased by 12% annually, and this has made it difficult for Guatemala to fulfil the Peace Agreements.