A Year After Dual Disasters Hit Guatemala, Communities on the Road to Repair
Posts
Women to the front: Gender equality in the fight for Indigenous land in Guatemala
For nearly two decades, AJWS grantee the Association of Communities for the Development, Defense of Land and Natural Resources (ACODET), has successfully fought off government plans to build a hydroelectric dam in Ixcán, Guatemala, that would force 19,000 Indigenous villagers to lose their homes. ACODET is a grassroots coalition of 36 Indigenous farming villages that …
Read More
A Global Hunger Emergency
Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine as they continue to endure unspeakable suffering from Russia’s ruthless invasion. As the conflict persists, deadly ripple effects are becoming evident far beyond Ukraine’s borders. Exports of grain, fertilizer and fuel from the region have ground to a halt, accelerating a rising global hunger and economic emergency. …
Read More
Writing the Wrongs: Why Journalists Give Me Hope
A few weeks ago, I woke up to news that filled me with hope. After nearly four decades, justice prevailed for 36 Indigenous Achi women who were raped and tortured by paramilitaries during Guatemala’s civil war. After enduring years of taunts, threats and outright denials, vindication came on January 25 when a tribunal sentenced their …
Read MoreStories
As activists speak out, UDEFEGUA helps them stay safe
This award-winning NGO helps activists stay safe, so they can keep speaking out against injustice. In recent years, activists who defend human rights in Guatemala have faced a rising wave of targeted violence that aims to crush their growing movements for social change. From 2008 to 2011, there were 1,286 reports of attacks against human …
Read More
Youth make strides for reproductive health in Guatemala
In Guatemala, very few young people have access to quality reproductive health care and sexual health education. Only 44 percent of women of reproductive age use any kind of contraceptives. The maternal mortality rate—the proportion of pregnancies that end in the mother’s death—is the second worst in Latin America and is especially high among indigenous …
Read More