Advocacy Program
Since 2007, WINGS’ Advocacy Program has campaigned for the implementation of Guatemala’s Law on Universal and Equitable Access to Family Planning Services (Decree 87-2005), a law passed in 2005 which guarantees the provision of sex education to youth in schools and access to free family planning methods for all Guatemalans.
Project activities have included:
- Working directly with Ministry of Health officials to build support for the law, training key staff from all 16 area health centers in youth-friendly family planning services, assisting in the development of a department-wide strategy for compliance with the law, and regularly evaluating the strategy’s implementation;
- Working with the Ministry of Education to increase awareness about the law, training teachers and other key staff from area schools in sex education, and creating a strategy for implementation based on the existing national curriculum;
- Conducting educational outreach to youth to raise awareness in this age group about sexual and reproductive rights, and to empower young people to demand the services guaranteed to them by law.
In 2011, the program will begin focusing on a three-year initiative in which WINGS’ staff will teach advocacy skills to women’s groups throughout Guatemala, enabling them to lead their communities in demanding that their rights to sexual and reproductive health are upheld by the government. While this program focuses on sexual and reproductive health rights, the advocacy skills imparted can be used within a variety of contexts and trainings are designed to empower women to be agents for social change.
