This report covers the period 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013
Overview
According to the last Human Development Index, Guatemala has improved by 35 per cent between 1980 and 2012, which is a significant result, but is still insufficient to bring the country up from the lowest rung on the ladder of Latin American countries. In the various departments the index values vary widely, with the lowest values being recorded in the northwestern regions of the country, where the indigenous populations are located.
The Guatemalan children life expectancy is reduced by high mortality rates: in a thousand born, 30 die before their first birthday and 42 die before the age of 5. Furthermore, it was found that half of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition; this aspect was exacerbated during 2012 due to the coffee leaf rust.
In Brief
According to the Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA, September 2013) the departments most affected by food insecurity are: Chiquimula, San Marcos, Alta Verapaz, Jalapa, Jutiapa, El Quiché, Huehuetenango, Zacapa, Baja Verapaz and Sololá,
In Guatemala young people continue to be immersed in an increasingly violent context, which also limits their welfare and opportunities to live with dignity; one example of this is that life expectancy after 30 has reduced by 9 per cent. According to the Observatory of the Ministry of Government, in March 2013 alone there were a total of 449 violent deaths of which 60 occurred in the city of Guatemala, increasing the risks to work in urban areas.
Precarious housing conditions, lack of water and sanitation, overcrowding and persistence of households with dirt floors, un-employment, crime, drug traffic, migration, inequality, the existence of mechanisms of exclusion, lack of social cohesion, are some of the main factors that affect the work of the Guatemalan Red Cross (GRC) with a holistic approach to provide timely services to Guatemalans.
