British Embassy tackles teen pregnancy in Sololá through education and community engagement
The British Ambassador to Guatemala, visited a UK funded project in Sololá, which is empowering young boys and girls to decide upon their future and set life goals.
Project in Solola
Teenage pregnancy is one of the most pervasive social problems in Guatemala today, and the British Embassy, together with the Organization for the Development of the Indigenous Maya (ODIM), has concluded a project that helped more than 50 teenagers in the areas of San Juan and San Pablo La Laguna.
ODIM is tackling this complex issue by providing a place for teenagers to receive training in life skills, gain valuable knowledge and access mentoring from peers, including their own family members. They will gain the basic tools to understand sexual and reproductive health issues and be able to talk about the topic.
The wider aim of the programme is to reduce child marriage and teenage pregnancy through quality education. According to official statistics, nearly 90,000 girls and teenagers become pregnant each year in Guatemala. Early pregnancy affects their access to education and statistics show that rural Mayan girls are almost half as likely to finish primary school as their urban counterparts are.
The UK is committed to ensuring over a million girls in some of the poorest countries, including girls who have disabilities or are at risk of being left behind, receive a quality education. By addressing sexual and reproductive health, this 5-month project seeks to create a strong cohort of participants, including girls and boys, confident in their ability to make decisions that best meet their needs and hopes for their futures.
The British Ambassador to Guatemala, Carolyn Davidson, said:
Improving access to girls’ education is not only the right thing to do, it is also at the heart of the UK’s drive to boost economic growth, improve stability and reduce conflict around the world. A more educated world is a better world for all of us, and the UK has long led the way in making it easier for girls around the globe to access 12 years of quality education.