Kinder in Guatemala

Projects in Guatemala

Guatemala

0.472

This lands Guatemala in 102nd place out of 189 surveyed countries. Switzerland, by contrast , is in second place with an IHDI of 0.882.

*The Inequality-adjusted Human Indes (IHDI) measures inequality in various countries, considering inequality in education, health, and income; scores range from 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest).

USD 8,000

Switzerland: USD 65,610

20.6

Guatemala ranks 72 out of 117 surveyed countries.

*The Global Hunger Index ranks and tracks the hunger situation on a local, regional, and global scale annually. A score of 0 means no hunger, while any score above 50 is considered "extremely alarming."

Challenges in Guatemala

  • Social inequality is enourmous: 40% of the populations is indigenous and extremely disadvantaged.
     
  • Guatemala is ranks ninth on the WorldRiskIndex, which calculates the risk of disaster as a consequence of extreme natural events and the societal vulnerability of a country. Guatemala is particularly at risk due to climate change, and the very existence of its small farmers is under threat.
     
  • The situation with regard to education is precarious: a mere 41.8% of children in our project areas attend compulsory preschool or kindergarten.
     
  • In Guatemala, there is an immense gap between rich and poor. The indigenous Mayan people especially often live in poverty and are disadvantaged in many ways. In our project region in the highlands of the Department of Sololá, more than 90% of the population is indigenous. 85% of the inhabitants of the department are poor and 20% extremely poor.
     
  • Guatemala ranks 9th among the countries with the highest world risk index. This index calculates the disaster risk as a complex interaction of natural events and the vulnerability of society. Guatemala is particularly affected by climate change, which threatens the livelihoods of many smallholder families.
     
  • The educational situation in the country is precarious: only 41.8% of the children in our project area attend compulsory pre-school. Even at school, Mayan children have little chance of a good start: growing up with Mayan languages, they are suddenly expected to speak Spanish at school, but have never learned it.