| USAID/Guatemala continues to increase access to and improve the quality of health care delivery systems for women and children. The Mission supports initiatives to strengthen the capacity of health care networks and improve cooperation among the many groups involved in the health system, including local communities. USAID/Guatemala also promotes the development of effective campaigns to address women's health problems and violence against women.
La Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia de Guatemala
(APROFAM)
Calidad en Salud 2
The POLICY II Project
Proyecto Pro Redes Salud en el Altiplano
Private Sector Alliances
Proyecto Acción SIDA de Centroamérica (PASCA)
La Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia de Guatemala
(APROFAM)
APROFAM, now the second largest family planning provider in Guatemala,
offers family planning and maternal and child health services to lower
income families. APROFAM continues to receive USAID assistance to become
fully sustainable while maintaining its social mission of delivering gender
equitable services to rural populations. The organization provides training
to service providers and support staff to guarantee that men and women
using APROFAM services make free and informed decisions to improve family
health. APROFAM also focuses on gender equity during household visits,
educational discussions, and through its programs for young adults. The
organization conducts campaigns to sensitize the public about violence
against women and women’s rights, and its telephone helpline aids women in precarious situations seeking emotional and legal support.
Calidad en Salud 2
With the assistance of USAID/Guatemala, University Research Corporation Calidad en Salud 2 (Quality in Health 2) is helping the Ministry of Health improve the quality of health care services for women and children, particularly in the highland regions. The activity promotes collaboration between NGOs, government agencies, and representatives from local health care services, targeting male and female health promoters and emphasizing community involvement and empowerment. The previous program, Calidad en Salud 1 (Quality in Health 1), achieved successful results, including a decline in child mortality and national fertility rates and an increase in the number of women obtaining health information through a radio and television social communication campaign. Together, the Quality in Health programs have used information, education, and communication (IEC) and behavior change activities to improve the standards of family planning services, including male involvement and women’s empowerment. A diploma course on responsible parenthood is being supported to disseminate IEC materials and to increase awareness of equitable male and female roles in raising their children. Additionally, a very successful model for integrating health care among young adults has been implemented at Hospital San Juan de Dios, providing approximately 15,000 men and women with women's health counseling that incorporates a gender equity approach.
The POLICY II Project
Through this project, USAID assists a network of women’s NGOs called Instancia Salud Mujer (Instance Health Women) to use policy dialogue and social auditing processes to improve women’s health. The network presented an integrated women’s health proposal focusing on women's health and family planning, as well as gender approaches to delivering quality health care services, to the Ministry of Health and other government agencies. Since 2004, this group has been actively monitoring the Ministry of Health’s Reproductive Health Program and also works with the Health Commission of Congress to monitor the implementation of the Social Development Law requiring the integration and participation of women in socioeconomic, political, and cultural development processes.
Proyecto Pro Redes Salud en el Altiplano
With USAID support, JSI Training and Research Institute, Inc., and its
local partners improved the delivery of reproductive
and child health services to Mayan communities in the highlands. Through
the Pro Redes (Pro Networks) Project, NGO networks providing health care
delivery services received technical assistance and training to build their
capacity and enhance the quality of women's health services offered
to these communities. The project promoted women’s participation as beneficiaries
and providers of health services. Although USAID support ended in September
2004, the Pro Redes Salud networks created an umbrella network, the first
federation of NGO health networks in Latin America, which includes over
80 NGOs serving residents of the Mayan highlands.
Private Sector Alliances
USAID/Guatemala is working with the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and its sub-contractor the University Research Corporation (URC) to support public-private health alliances in Guatemala. The alliances will increase access to and improve the quality, equity, efficiency, and use of basic health, nutrition, and education services in the country. The program is also responsible for addressing gender inequity at the managerial as well as the service delivery level, sensitizing the staff to gender inequalities and creating mechanisms to promote and ensure the participation of women and women’s groups.
Proyecto Acción SIDA de Centroamérica (PASCA)
USAID/Guatemala-Central America Program is working with the Academy for Educational Development and The Futures Group International to promote public awareness of HIV/AIDS and strengthen local NGOs’ efforts to combat the epidemic. Through this program, USAID is assisting La Casa de la Mujer, a shelter run by the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Redeemer, to provide rehabilitation support, including counseling, medical care, and vocational education to trafficking victims in the border area of Tecún Umán
and surrounding San Marcos, Guatemala. The sisters travel throughout the
area speaking with prostitutes and at-risk women and girls about health
issues, the importance of education, the dangers of trafficking, and their
legal rights. The Casa also provides 160 victims and vulnerable women with
skills training in sewing, cosmetology, and sales and fosters other income
generating activities.
Guatemala Program Objectives:
Economic Growth
Democracy and the Rule of Law
Health
Education
Selected Activities:
ATA/AGEXPRONT
Asociación Ajpatnar Chortí
The Biodiversity and Sustainable Forestry-BIOFOR Project
Foundation for Financial Advice to Development and Social Service Institutions (FAFIDESS)
Nutrition Institute of Central America and Panama (INCAP)
Quality Coffee Program
Women’s Legal Rights Initiative (WLR)
Crime Prevention/Rule of Law Programs
Anti-corruption and Transparency Program
Decentralization and Local Governance
La Asociación Pro-Bienestar de la Familia de Guatemala
(APROFAM)
Calidad en Salud 2
The POLICY II Project
Proyecto Pro Redes Salud en el Altiplano
Private Sector alliances
Proyecto Acción SIDA de Centroamérica (PASCA)
Asocation Guatemalteca de Educacion Sexual (AGES)
Visit USAID/Guatemala: Link
to the Mission
Global Snapshots: Guatemala
Homepage
|
Child Marriage
