Forest Governance Project: MAPF
The Forest Governance Project, funded by the European Union, is developed in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, by ...
Guatemala is a country with profound social, political and economic inequalities, caused by racism and the unjust distribution of wealth, among other reasons. According to the UNDP, Human Development Report (October 2016), 82% of the Guatemalan population struggle to get by on a low income; 53% of the population is unable to cover the cost of the basic goods basket, and poverty affects 66.7% of the population. It is worth noting that the Human Development Index for Guatemala is 0.49. In Alta Verapaz it stands at 0.38, one of the lowest of the country.
Guatemalan youth constitute an important sector of the population, as 68% of the total population is less than 30 years of age. Of this percentage, one third is between 15 and 29 years old. This demographic bonus is not being taken advantage of, given that children, adolescents and young adults have few opportunities in regards to access to education, health and opportunities to improve their lives. Most of the population has less than six years of schooling and seven out of ten work in the informal sector. This reality is harder on the young indigenous population, who tend to reach only three years of schooling and are mostly labouring in the informal sector, where there is no right to social security coverage.
This project aims to strengthen social leadership among indigenous Poqomchi adolescents and young adults in the municipalities of San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Tactic in the province of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. It also works to strengthen entrepreneurial capacities, taking into account the multicultural and multilingual context in which Poqomchi youth live, while asserting the right to reproductive and sexual health.