Guatemala’s speedy economic recovery from COVID-19 brings questions on malnutrition strategy

22 Jun 2023 --- Experts from the Committee of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights conclude Guatemala’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is quick. However, malnutrition rates stay high, leading the Committee to question how the country plans to tackle poverty and inequality, which drives people to hunger.

The Committee found severe food insecurity and malnutrition in the country, as close to half of children under five years old suffer from malnutrition; for indigenous children, the percentage is even higher – 61%. According to the report, the strategies put in place to reduce food insecurity are insufficient.

According to the World Food Program, 46.5% of children under five are suffering from stunting – a consequence of malnutrition that results in a stop of growth – and two-thirds of the population are living in extreme poverty – or less than US$2 per day.

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had introduced support funds and programs, implemented energy subsidies and provided the medical sector with necessary supplies,” says Ramiro Alejandro Contreras Escobar, executive director of the Guatemala Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights, and head of the delegation.

Escobar further explains that those measures had ensured citizens’ access to health, education, food and nutritional security, job and income security and encouraged gross domestic product to grow by 8% in 2021. 

Furthermore, he says that the government had implemented the “Great National Crusade for Nutrition,”  strategy to improve the health and nutrition of the population, with emphasis on children, women, rural and indigenous populations and people in poverty.

The 1,000-days window
The government responded to the Committee, saying that the actions they took to improve malnutrition were promoting exclusive breastfeeding up to six months of age to strengthen prenatal care for mothers and infants. 

With these actions, the government says that child mortality has decreased from 21% in 2000 to 14% in 2020, predicting further declines in the coming years. Chronic malnutrition was highest in 2021 and, according to the government, over 200,000 children received nutritional support. 

Food fortification is one measure taken in preventing and managing nutritional deficiencies.The report details further multi-sectoral and inter-agencies measures taken to stop hunger and malnutrition from economic and sociocultural causes. The “1,000-day window initiative” focuses on food fortification and preventing and managing nutritional deficiencies and childhood diseases with special nutrition and health counseling and education.

Iron and folate supplements have been provided for women of childbearing age. A recent study in the UK found that two-thirds of women globally in fertile age suffer from hidden hunger – nutrient and mineral deficiency of either zinc, iron, folate or vitamin A.

Additional supplements provided are vitamin A, and food fortification with micronutrients in stable foods such as salt, wheat, flour sugar and cornflour has received increased monitoring.

“Grow Up Healthy”
Another nutrition project, “Grow Up Healthy,” with a budget of US$100 million, has been distributed in Guatemala through three institutions – the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Secretariat for Food and Nutritional Security and the Ministry of Social Development.

This project targets babies up to 24 months with an emphasis on the most vulnerable population – the indigenous – and is a part of the National Strategy for the Prevention of Chronic Malnutrition.

“The National Strategy for the Prevention of Chronic Malnutrition was designed to reduce the prevalence of chronic malnutrition by 10% – from 41.7% to 31.7% – in children under two years old living in Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango, Quiche, Chiquimula, San Marcos, Totonicapán and Sololá. 

“The delegation’s commitment to answering the Committee’s questions indicated the State party’s dedication to promoting economic, social and cultural rights,” highlights Mohamed Ezzeldin Abdel-Moneim, chair of the Committee, and wished Guatemala prosperity and success in upholding the rights of the agreement.

By Beatrice Wihlander