Advocates for Youth

Universal access to sexual and reproductive health education and services for young people is enshrined in Guatemalan law. The 2001 Law of Social Development recognizes the right to sexual and reproductive health, while the 2006 Law of Universal Access to Family Planning goes even further, requiring sex education to be taught in all public schools and ensuring access to family planning services for youth through the national health system. Despite these important legislative guarantees, implementation has been slow and uneven, and access to critical reproductive health services remains highly inconsistent.

Most young people in Guatemala are unaware of their legal rights to sexual and reproductive health care, and they are often denied services due to conservative cultural norms, lack of supplies, or absence of trained medical personnel at health centers. These factors contribute to persistently high fertility rates among youth, especially in rural areas. In response, WINGS’ Advocates for Youth program works with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education in Chimaltenango to develop strategies for implementation of the 2006 Family Planning Law, train service providers working with youth, educate youth about their rights and monitor progress on the law’s implementation.

The project focuses on the department of Chimaltenango, with the goal of developing a proven methodology that can later form the basis for national programming by WINGS or its partner organizations. Project components include:

  • 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;
  • Participating in national-level advocacy networks, while designing and testing tools for monitoring and evaluation that can be shared with partner organizations;
  • 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.
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