Guatemala

This country page features an interactive, icon-based data dashboard providing a national-level overview of the status of children’s care and care reform efforts (a “Country Care Snapshot”), along with a list of resources and organizations in the country.

List of Organisations

demographic_data

Demographic Data

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16.35 million
Total Population
Census, 2018
6.57 million
People
Total Population Under 18
Estimate
40.19%
Population Under 18
 
Census, 2018
4.5
People
Mean Household Size
Census, 2018
25.1%
Prevalence of Female-Headed Households
 
DHS 2014-2015
Upper Middle Income Country
World Bank GNI Status
World Bank, 2019
59.3%
Living Below Poverty Line
 
Instituto Nacional de Estadística - Guatemala, 2014
48.3
GINI Coefficient
World Bank, 2014
0.651
Human Development Index
UNDP, 2019

childrens_living_arrangement

Children's Living Arrangements

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%
Country
 
NO SOURCE GIVEN
65.2%
Living with Both Parents
 
DHS 2014-2015
27.3%
Living with One Parent
 
DHS 2014-2015
7%
Living with Neither Parent
 
NO SOURCE GIVEN
%
Effective
 
NO SOURCE GIVEN

children_living_without_bio

Children Living Without Biological Parents

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77%
Both Parents Alive
 
BCN Analysis of 2014-2105 DHS Data
19%
One Parent Dead
 
BCN Analysis of 2014-2105 DHS Data
4%
Both Parents Dead
 
BCN Analysis of 2014-2105 DHS Data

Children at Risk of Separation

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54.8%
Children living below poverty line
 
Pobreza Multidimensional infantil y adolescente en Guatemala: PRIVACIONES A SUPERAR. 2016, ICEFI y UNICEF
5.3%
Children with Disabilities
 
ENDIS 2016
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age 2-17
Left Behind Children (Migration)
30,329
children
CIPRODENI, 2019
i
NNA aprehendidos en la frontera sur de EEUU: 30,329 NNA Guatemaltecos retornados: 20,028
Ethnic Minority children
3.01 million
children
Census, 2018
i
Mayan 2,866,111 (age 0-18 / 2018) Garífuna 7, 280 (age 0-18 / 2018) Xinka 123,387 (age 0-18 / 2018) Afromestizo 12,321 (age 0-18 / 2018)
Children affected by HIV
35
children
Informe epidemiológico de VIH del MSPAS 2017
i
age 0-19
Children in conflict with the law
1,131
children
Cuaderno de Debate: Adolescentes en Conflicto con la Ley Penal desde la justicia restaurativa, FLACSO, 2017
i
aged 13-18

Formal Alternative Care Arrangements

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0 Families/Parents
0 Children
NO SOURCE GIVEN
0 Families/Parents
0 Children
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Total Family-Based Alternative Care
- - Families/Parents
- - Children
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Foster Care
150 Foster Families/Foster Parents
63 Children
i
150 approved foster families, 63 children approved and placed in 47 families
Information provided via phone call with the Foster Care Program of the SBS, 14 April 2020
Formal Kinship Care
- - Families/Parents
- - Children
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Total Residential Care
- - Settings
- - Children
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Larger Institutions
146 Settings
3,863 Children
i
146 (124 private and 22 public facilitiies) and 4,215 children
National Census of Residential Care Facilities, 2019
Transit Centres/Shelters
1 Settings
- - Children
Secretaría de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia
Lancet Global Study Estimate of Children Living in Institutional Care
10,939 Children
i
Lower Bound: 10811.43 Upper Bound: 11065.58
Desmond, et al, 2020

adoption

NO DATA AVAIABLE
Country
NO SOURCE GIVEN
115
children
Domestic Adoption
Information provided via phone call with the CNA, 28 September 2020
i
From Jan-Sept 2020. 53 completed and 62 in process.
0
children
Inter-country Adoption
NO SOURCE GIVEN
i
Moratorium on intercountry adoption since 2008
NO DATA AVAIABLE
Effective
NO SOURCE GIVEN

Parental Survivorship

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94%
Children with Both Parents Alive
 
DHS
5.2%
Children with One Parent Alive
 
DHS
0.3%
Children with Both Parents Dead
 
DHS

Progress Indicators

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Country
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Effective
 
NO SOURCE GIVEN
% GDP 7
Social Welfare Spending
Ministry of Finance
i
Government spend on social welfare is 6.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
% GDP 3
Child Welfare Spending
Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales
i
Government spend on child welfare is 3.48% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
% 0
Child Protection Spending
Child Fund. Guatemala: 10 años de inversión en niñez y adolescencia
i
Government spend on child protection is 0.08% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Alternative Care Policy in Line with the 2009 Guidelines
 
No
NO SOURCE GIVEN
i
As a “public policy” it does not exist but there are applicable legal mechanisms, such as the Adoption Law and the SBS Agreement that includes the Foster Family program. // Como “política pública” no existe pero sí existen mecanismos legales aplicables, como la Ley de Adopciones y el Acuerdo de la SBS que crea el programa de Familias de Acogimiento Temporal.
Centralised Authority on Adoption
 
Yes
Consejo Nacional de Adopciones
Commitment to Deinstitutionalistion
 
Partly
Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA), 2018; Child Frontiers, 2012
i
1. Pilot plan for deinstitutionalization in Chimaltenago // Plan piloto de desinstitucionalización (DI) en Chimaltenago 2. National Commission of Deinstitutionalization // Comisión Nacional de DI (Plan de DI OJ y PGN) 3. Buckner, with DCOF funds, had a deinstitutionalization (DI) project focused on children under three years of age. 4. Holt International had a DI program in 2008-10 with GHR funds.
Comprehensive Child Protection Law
 
Yes
Ley de Protección Integral de la Niñez y Adolescencia, 2003
Continuum of Alternative Care Services Available
 
Partly
NO SOURCE GIVEN
i
Kinship care readily used but informally, foster care exists but very limited
Data System
 
Limited
NO SOURCE GIVEN
i
Each government body has some type of data collection system but nothing centralized. Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) has done an internal report on this.
Existence of a Regulatory Body and Regulatory System
 
Partly
NO SOURCE GIVEN
i
CNA has oversight and responsibility to register private residential care facilities. Four different government bodies have mandates for different roles and responsibilities of the child protection system: Judiciary, Attorney General, Secretariat for Social Welfare and National Adoption Council.
Gatekeeping Mechanism/Policy
 
Partly
Reglamento de la Procuraduría de Niñez y Adolescencia 56-2018
Means of Tracking Progress with Reforms
 
Yes
Care System Assessment completed in 2020 and will be used as a baseline
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Using the Care System Assessment, to be finalized
Moratorium on Admission into Institutions for Children Under 3
 
No
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Moratorium on New Institutions
 
No
NO SOURCE GIVEN
National Action Plan to Guide Reforms
 
No
NO SOURCE GIVEN
National Standards of Care
 
Limited
Standards for Residential Care, Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA)
i
There are 15 standards in CNA
Prevention of Separation Services Available
 
No
NO SOURCE GIVEN
i
Programa de Madres en Conflicto con su Maternidad del Consejo Nacional de Adopciones
Support for Careleavers (in Legislation and in Practice)
 
No
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Legislation Governing Children's Care
 
Yes
Ley de Protección Integral de la Niñez y Adolescencia, Decreto 27-2003; Ley de Adopciones 77-2007

key_stakeholders

Key Stakeholders

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Country
Government
Civil Society Organisations
Effective

Other Relevant Reforms

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Effective
NO SOURCE GIVEN
Child Protection
i
Iniciativa de Ley No. 52-85 Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Source: Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Decentralisation
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Iniciativa de Ley No. 52-85 Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Source: Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Migration
i
Código de Migración, Decreto 44-2006
Source: Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Social Protection
i
Iniciativa de Ley No. 52-85 Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Source: Congreso de la República de Guatemala
Education
Source: MINEDUC
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Ley de Educación Especial 59-2007

drivers_of_institutionalisation

Drivers of Institutionaliziation

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Country
Push Factors
Effective

key_research_and_information

Key Data Sources

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Country
Effective

Acknowledgements

Data for this country care snapshot was contributed by a consultant with Maestral International and partners at Changing the Way We Care.

Displaying 81 - 90 of 140

List of Organisations

Ruth Elizabeth Prado Pérez - Migraciones Internacionales,

This essay examines the extreme violence and organized crime in the Central American Northern Triangle (CANT) region that is causing many young people, families, and individuals to flee and become displaced, as well as the widespread forcible gang recruitment in the region.

Disability Rights International ,

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has called for urgent action to reintegrate children and psychiatric detainees who have been living in institutions into their communities

Beatriz San Román & Karen S Rotabi - International Social Work ,

This study investigated how adoptive and prospective adoptive parents in Spain deal with signs of fraud and corruption within the intercountry adoption process, illuminating the dismissal of the systemic failures of intercountry adoption and the rights of birth families. 

Sofia Menchu & Richard Chang (Editor) - Reuters,

Guatemala arrested three human rights officials and two police officers for their alleged responsibility in the death of 41 girls who died in a blaze in a children's shelter.

UNHCR,

As the number of children fleeing gang violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras soars, UNHCR is launching a campaign for US$18 million in vital aid.

BBC,

BBC reports the minister of social welfare, his deputy, and the director of Virgen de Asuncion have been charged with negligent homicide.

ChildFund International,

The Advisor will provide technical guidance and support in the process of continuous institutional capacity building, program improvement, and promotion of regional strategic relationships.

Eric Rosenthal - The Washington Post,

A Washington Post op-ed piece written by Eric Rosenthal on why orphanages should be eliminated.

Alberto Arce and Sonia Perez D. – Associated Press,

This article provides a detailed account of the tragic fire that occurred on March 8, 2017 at the Virgen de la Asunción home in Guatemala.

Lucy Westcott - Newsweek,

Nine survivors of the children’s home fire in Guatemala were flown to the U.S. for burn treatment.