Guatemala

Guatemala is located in Central America where it borders Mexico and Belize to the north, and El Salvador and Honduras to the southwest.

Thirty-six years of political violence have left over 100,000 dead and over one million internally displaced people, creating a host of problems for development. Also adding to Guatemala's problems is the uneven distribution of wealth that has left many living in poverty.

Major crops grown in Guatemala include sugarcane, corn, coffee and bananas. It also has small reserves of oil and is able to export some of its surplus.

What is Plan doing?

Since 1978 Plan works in rural areas in seven departments in the central and eastern regions of Guatemala. We work with communities to:

• Improve mothers’ and children’s basic health
• Provide adequate water and hygiene
• Improve pre-primary and primary education
• Lower the incidence of HIV and AIDS
• Increase crop production
• Increase non-farm incomes and improve housing.

Issues Plan works on in Guatemala:

Comparison on the Millennium Development Goals**

Country
Population living on less than $1 a day	11.7%
Enrolment in Primary Education	96.1%	99.5%
Ratio of girls to boys in primary education	0.93	0.99
Under 5 mortality rate (per 1000 live births)	41	6
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births)	290	7
People 15-49 years old living with HIV	0.8%	0.4%
Population with access to improved drinking water	96%	100%
Internet Users per 100 people	10.22	76.77

**The eight Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by all of the world's countries and leading development institutions, form a blueprint to help meet the needs of the world's poorest people.