H.M. The Queen concluded her visit to Guatemala yesterday, where she spent three days learning about some of the work that Spanish Cooperation has been carrying out in the country for more than 30 years. The visit began last Tuesday, when H.M. The Queen and the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Eva Granados, travelled to Guatemala to learn about and highlight the work of Spanish Cooperation in the country.
Guatemala is a priority partner for Spanish Cooperation, and numerous development cooperation projects have therefore been launched since 1987, which Queen Letizia, together with Eva Granados, was able to visit. The visit focused on three priority areas for Spanish Cooperation in the country: firstly, combating child malnutrition; secondly, eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, particularly among indigenous populations; and thirdly, young people, education, vocational training and decent work.
Projects in Guatemala
One of the first projects the Queen visited, following her reception by the First Lady, Lucrecia Alvarado, was the Spanish Cultural Centre in Guatemala, where she met with the General Coordinator and the Spanish Cooperation team in the country. Among other activities, the centre focuses on promoting the right to culture and civic participation among children and adolescents, strengthening Guatemala's cultural sector and fostering an inclusive, pluralistic and modern image of Spain through culture.
Queen Letizia then visited the construction site of the Northern Workshop School in Guatemala City, which focuses on improving the living conditions of young people at risk of exclusion and marginalisation and their families through technical training in trades, promoting measures to help them enter the labour market with better-quality and more stable employment. There is currently a network of 10 workshop schools, with another three due to join shortly.
The second day began in San José de Chacayá, where the Queen visited a project to strengthen primary healthcare, aimed at improving the population's access to comprehensive healthcare and helping to reduce chronic malnutrition. The project benefits around 500,000 people in the department of Sololá.
She subsequently met with indigenous women leaders to learn about a project aimed at improving women's economic and social circumstances, facilitating their autonomy and participation in public life.
In Chimaltenango, she visited the Comprehensive Care Centre for Women Victims of Violence (CAIMUS), where she toured the centre and subsequently met with women benefiting from its services. The centre provides them with capacity-building support in the areas of rights, financial education and the management of economic initiatives following their experiences of violence.
Finally, at the Spanish Cooperation Training Centre in La Antigua, Queen Letizia and Eva Granados met with the centre's director and staff, together with representatives of the Spanish community involved in development cooperation. The Queen also greeted professionals providing training at the centre on the prevention, mitigation and control of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional origin.
Spanish Cooperation
This was Queen Letizia's ninth development cooperation visit since the proclamation of His Majesty the King in 2014. Her first visit was to Honduras and El Salvador in 2015. In 2017, she visited Senegal; in 2018, she travelled to the Dominican Republic and Haiti; in 2019, she visited Mozambique; in 2020, she travelled to Honduras on a humanitarian aid visit; in 2021, she visited Paraguay; in 2022, she travelled to Mauritania; and last year, in 2023, she visited Colombia.
At the end of the visit, the Secretary of State for International Cooperation wished to thank the Queen for her commitment to the development cooperation carried out by the Government, as she conveys the values of Spanish Cooperation to the Guatemalan people and enables Spanish society to gain a closer understanding of the work being carried out in these countries.
Granados also wished to emphasise that the strategic objectives set for the visit had been achieved, highlighting Spanish Cooperation's commitment to Guatemalan society, the value of the work carried out by development cooperation professionals and the opportunity these visits provide to raise awareness within Spanish society of Spanish Cooperation's work with partner countries.
Spanish Cooperation works to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms, a gender perspective, environmental quality and respect for cultural diversity, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. All activities in Guatemala are the result of joint planning with the Guatemalan authorities and civil society.
Guatemala is one of the few countries with three Spanish Cooperation units: the Cooperation Office, with 22 staff members; the Training Centre, with a team of 48 people; and the Cultural Centre, with a staff of 14.
There are currently more than 65 Spanish non-governmental development organisations (NGDOs) working in cooperation with Guatemala, 31 of which have offices in the country.
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