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CLADEM - BEIJING COMMITTEE 
GUATEMALA

Guatemala, August 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Guatemalan State is the signatory of a set of national and international instruments regarding women’s human rights, on which it must submit reports, especially those pertaining to the international framework. This is the case of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women –CEDAW-, which has among its contents the mandate for all the States to submit periodic reports every four years before the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In this case the Committee will examine the third, fourth and fifth reports of the Guatemalan State in its extraordinary session and will make the recommendations that correspond with the purpose of promoting higher levels of efficiency in the application of the Convention.

The Beijing Committee – Guatemala and the Latin America and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights -CLADEM-, have elaborated jointly an "Alternative Report", which gathers the perspective of a part of the feminist movement as well as that of the women’s movement in relation to the compliance degrees of CEDAW’s mandates.

The purpose of the alternative report generated based on the women’s viewpoint, interpretation and investigation, is to grant the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women more elements of judgment that can orient their conclusions and recommendations to the Guatemalan State in a better way.

The methodological process for the elaboration of this document was based on two fundamental steps: First: the identification of the State sources of information. Once this was done, information regarding their competence area was requested from them; likewise, information related to these issues was requested from the instances specialized on women, such as the Women’s Presidential Secretariat –SEPREM- and other international organisms with representation in Guatemala. In the investigation process, a careful reading was made of the Guatemalan Government’s report, which comprises the third, fourth and fifth periodical reports and finally the information provided by the Executive instances responsible for the issues object of the Report were taken in consideration.

As a second step, the women’s organizations and groups were consulted directly. In the case of the women’s organizations and groups, the consultation implied a double process: the compiling and analysis of information previously issued by the women’s organizations and groups by means of reports and studies related to the issues focused on and, b) the direct consultation, by means of two workshops, one specialized with men and women law professionals and the other of a broader scope with women’s organizations that work with education, health, economic development and other issues.

The organizations that make up the Beijing Committee – Guatemala and CLADEM-Guatemala agreed on, as part of the methodological process, and considering the viability of the alternative report, the revision of: a) the constitutional and legislative measures, b) Civil rights: women’s participation and representation in the framework of the institutional policy, c) measures in educational and professional training matters, d) the right to work and the labor rights, e) some aspects regarding health and reproductive health, f) economic development: access to resources and services g) the National Policy for the Promotion and Development of Guatemalan Women and the Equal Opportunities Plan 2001 – 2006 and h) the institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, as well as the financial aspects.

The key issues mentioned above were defined by the coordination spaces responsible for this report, as of special concern for women and therefore, basic objective of the revision.

It is important to highlight that the development position and condition of Guatemalan women is particularly preoccupying given their low human development ratios, especially of the indigenous women (Mayas, Garifunas and Xincas) of the rural and semi-urban areas of Guatemala.

In the last section of this Report, the Beijing Committee - Guatemala and CLADEM-Guatemala present some of the conclusions and recommendations that seek to orient the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women regarding some of women’s expectations about this revision.

I Guatemala’s General Characteristics

The Republic of Guatemala, located in Central America, possesses a 108,889 km² territorial extension. One of the fundamental characteristics of its topography, its highly irregular territory, is the cause for a variety of microclimates, more than nineteen of them, which produce rich climatic variations that favor the development of a diversified agrarian/farming production.

For its political administration, Guatemala is divided into VIII regions, 22 departments and 331 municipalities. Each region, department, municipality and community must have Development Councils, which are currently in the process of being created. The maximum authority of each department is the Departmental Governor, who functions as the President’s representative in each one of the departments and who is appointed directly by the Executive Organism. The country has 23 electoral districts, one for each department, plus the central district that corresponds exclusively to the capital city.

The municipal administration, in this case the 331 municipalities, is governed by a Municipal Government, presided by a Mayor elected by voting, for a period of 4 years. The Municipalities are autonomous in their government and adhere to the Republic of Guatemala’s Political Constitution and the Municipal Code Legislative Decree N° 12-2002. The recent approval of the Decentralization, Development Councils and Municipal Code Laws have strengthened the State’s modernization, de-concentration of power, and decentralization processes, promoting a broad community participation at all levels.

As a government system, Guatemala is a representative and "democratic" republic, in which the executive and legislative powers are elected directly by the citizens every four years, whereas the Supreme Court of Justice, head of the judicial power, is elected by Congress at the proposal of a specific commission made up according to the Republic’s Constitution. Furthermore, it has important institutions that are part of the State, without belonging to any of the three powers, such as: the Constitutionality Court, the Human Rights District Attorney and the Electoral Supreme Tribunal, which have a State budget but enjoy political autonomy in the development of their functions.

Guatemala has had, in its recent political history, several revolutionary processes in different moments of its political life. The 20^th Century was crucial for its transformation, due to the fact that in 1944 the October Revolution showed the way to boost deep reforms in the State and society, which could not finish the modernization process due to the invasion of Guatemala in 1954 as a counter-revolution, which put an end to a process that was going towards democratization and economic/social transformation of the State and society. As of the overthrowing of the second Government of the revolution democratically elected, a counter-revolutionary government takes office in Guatemala, same that is replaced by successive military governments, with the exception of the third Government of the revolution in the sixties. From there on, it is not until 1985 that a civil government elected by the citizenry assumes power.

The succession of military regimes deepened the political, social, economic and cultural contradictions, which ended in a new armed conflict that lasted 40 years and which left more than 50,000 persons dead or missing and many boys and girls orphans. The armed conflict came to an end by means of the Peace Agreements between the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity –URNG- and the Guatemalan Government, having as support in the negotiation of the important agreements, the Civil Society’s Assembly, from where the different social sectors contributed to each one of the agreements.

Guatemala is nowadays a post-conflict society, one which seeks to construct, on the basis of a negotiated peace contained in the Peace Agreements, a new model of State truly participative, representative, multicultural and multilingual, in which the differences are respected and they do not constitute an excluding factor.

Currently Guatemala has a population of 11,385,740 inhabitants, of which 51% are women and 49% men; this population is subdivided in two large groups: indigenous and non-indigenous (ladinos and/or half-breeds); of these, 48% are indigenous, and 52% are non-indigenous. The indigenous group is subdivided into Mayas, Xincas and Garifunas, with the Maya group having the supremacy. Of the total population, 39.7% is located in the urban areas, whilst 60.3% is in the rural areas. The Guatemalan population is dispersed since 62% is distributed in 19,140 minor communities of 2,000 inhabitants and of these 71% are communities with less than 200 inhabitants each.

Another important characteristic that must be pointed out is that it has an eminently young population, since 43.8% is between 0 and 15 years old, more than 39.8% is within an age range between 15 and 44 years, 9.3% between 45 and 59 years old and 7.1% is 60 years old or over, which also evidences the fact that it has a low ratio of life expectancy.

Another identifying trait of the Guatemalan population is its multiethnic character and therefore it is a multicultural and multilingual society, which demands from the State and the Guatemalan society the legal and practical acknowledgement of said identity, maintaining the indivisibility of the Guatemalan State territory. The non-acknowledgement of the multiethnic character of the Guatemalan nation has made evident its exclusion in the Guatemalan society and State, which as a consequence has produced an unequal development of its population.

The indigenous population of Mayan origin is located especially in the central, west and north highlands, divided into 22 linguistic groups, of which the main ones are: a) the Quiché; b) the Cakchiquel: c) the Mam; d) the Kekchi and e) the linguistic group Garifuna located essentially on the north coast.

As a consequence of the lack of local opportunities, the population has been forced to migrate both internally and externally, thus producing an uneven distribution of the population in the territory of the Republic, which originates a concentration of opportunities, mainly of employment and consumption, in the department capitals. According to data registered in the Human Development Report, it is estimated that 4% of the agricultural owners possess 65% of the farming land and 10% of the smaller owners possess only 0.5% of it.

The Report on Human Development 2000, establishes by means of five aspects the exclusion: a) The rural and urban division, since there are two societies, the capital city, the metropolitan area, a couple of urban centers and the rest of the country; b) the difference in income, which ratifies the difference between the personal and family incomes of those who have the most with those that are located below the line of poverty; c) the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous, which confirms the situation of the indigenous in the current social structure. By occupying the lowest level in the social stratification, they are excluded from the economic, social and technological benefits, and therefore, they show the most unfavorable indexes of social development; d) the inequalities between women and men, which generates the gender discrimination; and e) the unequal access to opportunities, which subordinates women vis-à-vis men in all the environments of private and public life.

Guatemala’s metropolitan area continues being the one that has the largest indexes of human development, followed not so close by the Central region, which improved significantly during the period 1989 – 1994. In the following slot is the northeast region as well as the southeast and then the southwest region and El Peten. In the last position, with the most unfavorable indexes, are the north and northwest regions, with the largest proportion of indigenous population.

The levels of uneven development between the communities are related to the income concentration: resources and services. This is one of the main characteristics to build differences in the Guatemalan society, something that is clearly evident in the metropolitan region, which contrasts with the relative deterioration of the Northwest region’s situation, which presents the lowest incomes.

Another indicator that reveals the situation of the Guatemalan population is the last Income and Expenses National Survey (ENIGFAM) performed between 1998 and 1999, where a) 61.17% of the households receives 30.03% of the incomes under 1,299 quetzales; b) 31.58% of households receives 39.77% of the incomes that do not surpass 4,999 quetzales per month; c) 5.78% of the households has incomes ranging from 5,000 to 9,999 quetzales; d) 0.89% of the households has incomes between 10,000 and 14,000 quetzales; e) only 0.59% of the households concentrates 7.88% of the incomes that range from 15,000 to 40,000 quetzales; f) 66% of the population is in the level of poverty and social and economic exclusion.

1.1 The Profile of Guatemalan Social Development

The constant low social/economic indicators can be mentioned as a recurring problem for the social development of the Guatemalan population. Guatemala’s human development index is 0.59, based on the Family Income and Expenses National Survey, which has been reinforced in the Human Development Report 2000, with the calculation of two indexes that allow a more integral view: a) the social exclusion one and b) the gender potentiality.

Guatemala presented, back in 1998, a social exclusion index of 25.9, which means that the Guatemalan society is still very far from achieving a high degree of inclusion. The Human Development Report evaluates women’s development indexes, which measures the conditions of their human development by means of the gender potentiality indexes (IPG), which establishes the level of advancement of women’s position in society, compared to that of men, in the environments of economic, political and professional life. If there were equality in participation, the IPG would be 1; however, in Guatemala as of 1998, the IPG was 0.46. Based on the Family Income and Expenses Survey data, the country is ranked on the 49^th place, out of a total of 70 countries, occupying within the Central American region the fourth place.

Given the low development indexes, the Guatemalan population has the highest illiteracy ratios in Latin America (36.4%). From this it can be deducted that, in spite that 30% of the population in school age is under 15 years old, the national education system does not have an acceptable coverage capacity due to the fact that only 67% of these children and youngsters were serviced by the educational formal system during the year 2000.

Aside from the low schooling levels registered, product of the poor coverage level of the system and others, the national education faces serious problems that evidence its inefficiency. This is the case in the repeating ratios: 15.65% in men and 14.58% in women and 10.4% dropouts in primary school, also considered as one of the highest in Latin America. These problems especially affect the children and youngsters of the rural areas, where concluding the six grades of primary education implies for the male and female students an effort of up to 16 years. All these factors evidence that the Guatemalan development structures exclude, stratify and are not generating acceptable efficiency levels from the Guatemalan human resources.

It is indubitable that education constitutes a fundamental factor of development because at higher levels of schooling and professionalism of the human resources, more viability for the individual and collective development of a nation, thus articulating an access and insertion route into the economic, political and social structures.

It is for this reason that one of the main challenges of human development in Guatemala is achieving an improvement both in the coverage as well as in the quality of education, with equality for women and men, urban and rural areas and ethnic groups. The literacy rate is around 63.6%. In spite of the increase of the rural and indigenous literacy, this sector maintains the highest illiteracy rate; one third of the rural non-indigenous cannot read either. Women, especially the rural and indigenous, continue presenting the lowest literacy ratios of all the sectors. Most of the members of the Guatemalan families have average schooling levels lower than the one established by the Republic’s Political Constitution (which are the first 6 years), which is accentuated in the rural area, among the indigenous population, especially women.

Another fundamental indicator that reveals the low development levels of Guatemalan women and men is health. Health becomes another exclusion factor especially for the population that lives in higher vulnerability conditions such as women, indigenous people, childhood, handicapped youth and old people. It is an absolutely patriarchal society, where women are considered merely reproductive beings, without the right to decide about their own bodies and their sexual and reproductive health. As a consequence of this, the majority of women in the urban area have 3 children each, whilst in the rural areas the ratio is 5.8 children per woman. Young and adolescent women have early pregnancies, due to the fact that they start their reproductive phase between 13 and 19 years of age. Likewise, maternal mortality is one of the highest ratios. Guatemala occupies the first place in Central America and the second one at the Latin American level (190 deaths for every 100,000 born alive). In relation to abortion: of every 10 pregnant women, 3 abort; this evidences the need for sexual education processes, access to information and planned parenthood services.

Therefore, Guatemala continues registering persistently within its social indicators, high birth rates (for the year 2000, 32.91 for every 1,000 inhabitants), infant mortality (in 1998, 39.77 for every 1,000 born alive), high indexes of child diseases that do not exist in developed countries such as malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, dengue and pneumonia, which are the direct and indirect causes of child morbidity/mortality.

Poverty and extreme poverty are still high in Guatemala. According to the Family Income and Expenses Survey, performed during 1998 and 1999, and the Report The Drama of Poverty in Guatemala, more than 27% of the population is part of families with per capita income lower than US$ 1 per day; that is to say, 2.8 million persons are extremely poor, whilst more than half, 57%, has a per capita income lower than US$ 2 per day, which determines that 6 million inhabitants are poor. Furthermore, it was determined that the level of poverty in Guatemala is much higher than the one that could be expected from a country with the same level of existing income and resources, a situation that is directly linked to the degree of inequality and economic, political/juridical, and social exclusion, according to the class, ethnic, gender and geographical area differences in the country.

These poverty and extreme poverty levels reach their highest indexes in the rural areas, where dramatic levels of 75.3% and 39.8% respectively are reached, with the highest ratios of underdevelopment being concentrated in the Northern regions (Alta and Baja Verapaz), with a ratio of 81.7% of poverty and 52% of extreme poverty, Northwest (Quiche and Huehuetenango), 77.8% poverty and 49.9% extreme poverty. Southwest and Southeast have indexes that reach 72.1%, 30.6% and 64.3%, 30.2% respectively, and they are regions with worrisome levels of poverty and extreme poverty. All this reveals the need to promote immediate and mediate actions that contribute in an efficient and effective manner to achieve its political/social development, promotion and participation, thus diminishing the inequality gaps existing among the various sectors of the Guatemalan society.

The poverty, extreme poverty and low development ratios situate Guatemala among the countries with lowest human development in Latin America and world-wise it occupies the 120^th position out of 174 countries.

Another indicator that evidences the large inequality gaps that exist in the Guatemalan population and that is the cause of structural imbalances is the strong concentration of riches: 10% of the population concentrates 44% of the country’s income. More than 65% of the land in the best conditions of production and natural reserves are found in 3% of the great haciendas, whilst the remaining 35% is distributed among the small owners.

The Guatemalan production relies on the agro-export model, which is based on the traditional products such as coffee, sugar and bananas. Recently, non-traditional products have been integrated such as mini vegetables, flowers and garden produce, which weight in the country’s economic activity amounts to 23.1%

The industrial development in Guatemala continues being incipient and very vulnerable, in spite of having enjoyed since the 50s the protection and subsidies on the part of the State, with the purpose of fostering its development, a goal that to date still remains as a challenge. The current economic globalization policy highlights the importance of promoting effective measures that allow reaching the fundamental productivity and competitiveness conditions that simultaneously favor the generation of dignified job opportunities, which will allow the country to overcome the high levels of underemployment and unemployment existing nationwide.

It is the State’s fundamental responsibility the creation, strengthening and promotion of actions aimed at guaranteeing the integral development of the Guatemalan women and men of the different social/cultural groups that make up the nation. To achieve this, it must take the necessary measures aimed at redistributing the national riches by means of providing resources and services to the entire population, especially those groups and sectors such as: women, infants, youth, indigenous people and handicapped, which have been placed, given their low development level, under conditions of special vulnerability.

1.2 The Characteristics of Women as a Social Sector

Guatemalan women constitute 51% of the population; of this percentage, 60% are rural women, whilst 40% are urban women. Another sub-division among women is determined by the half-breed and indigenous division, with the former being 60% and the latter 40%.

As seen above, women constitute a group qualitatively and quantitatively important; however, its quantitative importance is not reflected in the social, economic, political and cultural development opportunities. On the contrary, they have the lowest development levels, a consequence of the lack of opportunities. The education, health, employment, political participation and representation indicators are clear examples of the limits imposed on women’s development.

Guatemalan girls and women have the Latin America leadership in illiteracy, with 42.6%, only below Haiti. The Education axis’ monitoring report performed by the Beijing Committee - Guatemala makes it obvious that this situation has not changed substantially. What has changed are the equality gaps regarding the attendance, permanence and entry of girls to the national education system, which has improved slightly; nevertheless, women continue being the ones that least attend school and the ones that graduate the least from the various grades of the formal education system, especially when you ascend in the educational scale: the higher the schooling level, the lesser the participation of girls and adolescent women.

Regarding the problem of school dropouts, the statistics continue revealing that the higher ratios are registered by women (55% versus 45% men). On the other hand, the school repetition statistics for girls are still higher than boys’, with 14.58%

The situation of Guatemalan women is not different in the health field, since health, as education, stems in its conception and perception, from women’s image and role, from that view that conceptualizes them as life reproducers. Therefore, women’s health is visualized in function of the lives of their children and their health needs are perceived partially, only inasmuch as they are in their reproducing and breastfeeding stages.

Women’s health indicators reveal that the system is concerned with women only in their life-reproducing capabilities, hence the fact that the indicators are essentially related to fertility and the differences between rural and urban areas, multiparity, and short intergenesic intervals. The health system is less concerned with women’s morbidity ratios, its causes and consequences.

On the other hand, women themselves, due to the influence exercised over them by the early process of family socialization, in which they are induced as second-class citizens and they are taught from the beginning to subordinate their needs and opinions to those of men, thus not viewing their general health status as their own and priority demand before the systems.

The lack of women’s demand upon the system to improve their health, together with the conception that the system has about women’s health care needs, join forces to constitute another serious limitation to their individual and global development. Due to this, the various phases of women’s health have been neglected, and currently, coverage is scarcely given to a low percentage of gynecological/obstetrics services.

There are also other factors that do not favor women’s health, as is the case of the inadequate water and housing services. As an example, 12.3% of the families in the Northeast region do not have these services covered, whilst 10.4% in the urban area and 56.4% in the rural area state that they lack running water services. In the specific case of adequate housing, 40.6% of the families live under piling up conditions. This constitutes an additional factor that especially affects the health of all women, regardless of their age, because this problem links up with the tasks’ overload, as well as a deficient food diet and this contributes to worsening their precarious health conditions and that of their minor children.

The imbalances between women and men continue reflecting themselves in the inequality gaps that exist in the different environments of the social relationships; a constant reminder that the exercise of political citizenship for women is still a pending assignment. This extreme is made evident when one revises the gaps between the women’s political participation and representation in the current social/political system, which in practice imposes permanent limits to their promotion in the different environments, both private and public, of social and political leadership, and in those in which decisions are made at different levels.

Even though formal equality is guaranteed in the Republic’s Political Constitution since 1985, since the Constitution consecrates the right to the formal equality between women and men when it contemplates, in Title II, Human Rights, Chapter I, Individual Rights, Article 4, which literally says: "in Guatemala all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights. Men and women, regardless of their marital status, have the same opportunities and responsibilities." (Political Constitution 1985).

In spite of this announced equality, the conformation of the State’s powers and its institutions make evident the deep gaps between men and women’s political participation and representation in the national administration and in the decision-making process. This is the case with the Guatemalan Republic’s Congress, where out of 113 representatives, only 8 are women. The inequality is also evident in the conformation of the Government Cabinet, where women continue being a minority of 14 (see Chart 5 in Annexes).

Other institutions, of great citizenship importance because they are responsible for monitoring the State so that it guarantees the rights of the female/male citizens, do not escape the above-mentioned trend. These institutions are: the Judicial Organism, the Human Rights Prosecutor, the Nation’s General Prosecutor, the District Attorney’s Office, the Constitutionality Court and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal; whichever the institution, the correlation in the national administration is 82% led by men.

On the other hand, even though the positive law constitutes the regulating framework of the social/political relations and the maximum law, which is the Political Constitution of the Republic, consecrates this right to liberty and equality, the norms in force in Guatemala are still discriminatory for women.

More than 10 years ago, the Women’s National Office and the social organizations submitted for Congress’ consideration the proposal to reform seven codes: penal, health, labor, organic law of the diplomatic service, family, civil service law, civil code and others, but to date none of the issues proposed by the Guatemalan women have been integrated into the reforms done.

The last of the environments analyzed is the issue of the economic development, and the non-access of Guatemalan women to resources and services that would permit them to count with production means. Even though in Guatemala the access to productive resources is generally of limited access, there are social groups that have traditionally been denied access to them. Such is the case of women, especially those of the rural and semi-urban areas and the indigenous women.

When reference is made to the lack of access to productive resources, we are talking especially of land, loans and financing for production, technological and commercial advice, as well as productive training. The lack of these resources and services limits the capability to generate monetary income for women.

In relation to the economy, the statistics reveal that the Economically Active Population –PEA- is 50.5%, of which 35.2% are women, located in the following types of activities: trade, textile manufacturing industry, agriculture, and community, social and personal services. Guatemala, in general, presents high unemployment rates, on account that the national Economically Inactive Population –PEI- is 49.5%. A large percentage of the population is forced to insert itself into the informal economy. In this sector there is a high average of women, on account of their low schooling indexes and their lack of technological training. On the other hand, their positioning in this sector permits them to develop most of their household chores and by this to continue looking after their minor children. In spite of this, the informal sector in responsible for generating important income for the Latin American, Central American and national economies.

Regarding the number of hours worked at the formal level, women work on average 35.9% of weekly hours vis-à-vis 46.3% worked by men. However, this aspect does not include the productive and reproductive work performed by women at home, which is not acknowledged as an economic contribution to the family. Women, aside from working outside the home, perform a more intense day’s work in their own family, which generates for them a work overload, in detriment of their physical and mental health. (ENIGFAM-INE 1998 – 1999).

The domestic work is made invisible and not acknowledged in the national accounts. The category "domestic occupations" hides much of the productive and reproductive work performed by women and is not identified as real work, but rather as women’s obligations, which reinforces their subordination before the power structures. (Women’s Access to Bank Loans in Guatemala, UNICEF, January 2000).

II Methodological Procedure for the Elaboration of the Alternative Report

The elaboration process of the Report implied, for the two coordination spaces responsible for its elaboration, various fundamental steps: a) the determination to assume the elaboration of the Report in a coordinated manner within a mutual co-responsibility; b) the definition of the boundaries and scope of the Report; c) the determination that it implied qualitative and quantitative aspects of the condition and situation of the Guatemalan women; d) the identification, gathering, classification and analysis of the information; e) the Report’s feedback and f) the presentation and circulation of the Report.

In order to develop the above-mentioned steps, the process was broken down into several instances.

First instance: it meant a coming-together, conversation and deliberation process between the coordinating spaces Beijing Committee - Guatemala and CLADEM, with the purpose of analyzing the advantages of cooperation in this vitally important subject, reaching the agreement of sharing the responsibility in this process as part of the competences of both coordinating spaces.

Second instance: it was aimed at defining the boundaries and scope of the Report, which meant establishing the key issues that the Alternative Report should focus on, based on the mandates issued by the Convention and the advances reported by the Guatemalan State through the third, fourth and fifth reports of the Guatemalan Government.

Third instance: it was constituted by the delimitation of the qualitative and quantitative character of the Report’s aspects, which implied establishing from these two dimensions not only the "what?" but also the "why?" of the indicators, measures and actions, with the purpose of being able to grant more elements of analysis to the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Fourth instance: it implied the process of information gathering, for which it was necessary to identify the possible sources of information, the elaboration of the information guide, the collection of information, its classification, analysis and selection of the information to be utilized. Here we requested from each one of the State Ministries the information referred to their branch, related to the compliance with CEDAW. On the other hand, we gathered from the women’s non-government organizations, groups and researchers, information related to the same subjects.

Fifth instance: it involved the Report’s elaboration process and its feedback by means of its presentation and evaluation, through the staging of two workshops with groups of feminist and women’s organizations. The first workshop was held with a group of 15 male and female experts in the constitutional, legislative and judicial issues. In the meantime, the second workshop was held with a broad group of representatives of organizations and feminist groups, who were in charge of the total revision of the Report.

Sixth instance: this stage will be constituted by two moments: a) the presentation of the Report in the exceptional session of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to be held from August 5 – 23 of the current year in New York, moment in which the Guatemalan State shall listen to the Committee’s recommendations and b) the socialization of the Report and the recommendations issued by the Committee to the feminist and women’s movement through two workshops: one in the central area and the other one in a region of the rural area.

III Verifying the Convention’s Commitments

3.1 General Considerations regarding the Guatemalan Culture and its Vision of Women

Any explanation of the situation of Guatemalan women necessarily passes by a previous analysis of the Guatemalan social perception of what it means to be a woman, the activities performed by women and men in the micro and macro-social environments as well as the conceptions about the feminine and the masculine and how this is expressed in terms of the distribution of power and authority in the public environment as well as in the private one.

These social appreciations are materialized in the valuation of women as beings of a lesser human category in the broadest sense of the expression. This can be verified through the intimately felt need of the female and male Guatemalans of having their first-born within the family be a boy.

This fact is permanently reflected in all of the Guatemalan culture and is expressed in the patriarchal articulation of a social, economic, political and cultural system, which rests in the oppression and exclusion of women, something that has imposed deep limitations to their individual and collective development, since the system considers the masculine sex as the fundamental agent of the integral development and therefore, it privileges its image, role, activities, authority, power, and political/social representation, whilst at the same time devaluing the image, role, activities authority and power of women.

In a multiethnic State such as the Guatemalan one, it is necessary to indicate that even though several models and conceptions of that patriarchal model of organization coexist, it does not constitute a unique model. Starting from the previous consideration, different models of patriarchy coexist with: differentiated values, customs and practices. Nevertheless, the systems have dominant and common traits, starting from which the common characteristics of a general model of social, economic, political and cultural insertion of women in Guatemala can be defined.

Having done the above clarification, it can be affirmed that in Guatemala, the social relationships are based on a dichotomy system, based on unequal and excluding relationships in the environment of the woman/man relationships. This exclusion system relies in man’s predominance and overvaluation as an individual and as a social group over others as female individuals and as a social group.

In this social dialectic, the masculine image is overblown. In view of this, the masculine figure exercises predominance regarding power and authority, both at the public and private level. The productive and reproductive system spins around a values, practices and customs model that recognizes superiority of abilities and dexterities to the males, whilst labeling women as dependent, passive, emotional, superfluous, irascible, and docile.

The patriarchy is the system that establishes and determines the norms under which the patterns of the generic division of work, social roles, the characteristics of women and men, the distribution of power and authority, building a severe system of oppression towards women, in which culture and ideology predominate as a source of those practices, values and customs, which legitimize the permanent social control environment of which they are object. Furthermore, it promotes the devaluation, exclusion, segregation and insertion in the structures of the social, economic, cultural and political systems.

Hence, the patriarchal system is characterized by the imposition of serious limits to the individual and collective development of women, especially of the rural indigenous women and those of the semi-urban areas, due to the fact that in them a triple oppression converges: generic, economic and ethnic, in such a manner that these limits are reflected in the scarce level of development that women present in the education, health, and access to productive resources environments: the land, the loans for production, housing, training, technological and commercial advice and others.

3.2 The Constitutional and Legislative Dispositions of the Guatemalan Women regarding the Guaranteeing of Juridical Equality

The Convention contemplates in Part I, Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; Part II, Articles 8, 9; as well as in Part IV, Articles 15 and 16, a set of measures of legislative and judicial nature, tending to promote the juridical and judicial equality.

To the effect of the present verification of advances, the contents of the articles and its sections previously mentioned were analyzed and contrasted with the set of administrative, legislative and judicial measures emanated from the Guatemalan State with the purpose of verifying the degree of integration of CEDAW’s dispositions in said constitutional, legislative and judicial measures.

Part I, Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6:

Article 2: In relation with the contents of the first paragraph of this Article, we verified that in the year 2001, the Guatemalan State enacted the "National Policy of Promotion and Development of the Guatemalan Women and the Equal Opportunities Plan 2001 – 2006 as a policy of the State, aimed at complying with this paragraph.

On the other hand, in 1999, the Legislative Power approved the Dignifying, Promotion and Integral Development of Guatemalan Women Law; however, it was presented as an initiative of the women’s organizations. An intense work that lasted three years was necessary to achieve the enactment of this law, which suffered fundamental cutbacks to its contents, such as the case of the parity proposal in all the positions of political representation. This law was proposed by the women’s organizations as a way of achieving the application of the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, for reason of its scarce compliance and how little known it is nationwide.

It is a regular fact, in the practice of the Legislative Power with respect to the reform proposals that the women’s organizations and groups present to said organ, that the latter withdraws and places at its best criteria, and that implies that in most cases, the changes be limited and the principles and bases that sustain them be lost.

Likewise, it must be pointed out that the Women’s Dignifying Law cannot be considered positive yet because the Guatemalan State has not had the political will to order the ministries, Government institutions, and the justice operators to apply it in due form, since it contains specific norms designed to prevent discrimination at work and in other environments, such as social, political, health, culture and others that have not yet been modified as we will see ahead.

It is of special concern the null application in the justice tribunals of the international and national norms in force in matters of women’s human rights and in general the Human Rights norms, in spite that according to Article 46 of the Constitution, all international norms in matters of Human Rights, ratified by our country, have preeminence over internal law.

In the interpretation of the Constitutionality Court regarding Article 46 of the Constitution, the justice operators give preeminence in their statements to the Guatemalan Republic Constitution, over and above the Human Rights treaties, is spite of the fact that Article 46 declares that "the general principle in matters of human rights is that the treaties and agreements accepted and ratified by Guatemala shall have preeminence over internal law."

Due to the above, it is considered that the State must do a larger diffusion of the international treaties and the legislation in force with the officers of the judicial system, with the purpose that these are applied in the tribunals.

This Constitutional norm has merited different interpretations among the jurists, but unfortunately the current one has prevailed, even in the Constitutional Tribunal, in the sense that this preeminence is applied from the Constitution downwards; in other words, it is only applicable to ordinary laws. This represents a clear example of the prevalence of the traditional line of thought, positivist and civil-oriented, which prevails in the doctrinarian and legislative interpretation and in the tribunal practice of the country.

The women’s organizations and groups consider it important that the State also enunciates a law that expressly prohibits any and all forms of discrimination against women, but that there exists a political will to achieve its positivism.

Section a): In relation to this section, the Republic’s Political Constitution of 1985 gathers in Title II, Human Rights, Chapter I, Individual Rights, Article 4, that "in Guatemala all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights. Men and women, whichever their marital status, have equal opportunities and responsibilities." (1985 Political Constitution).

On the other hand, recently a number of modifications to the Civil Code were approved; however, once again the positive application of the constitutional dispositions and the law are confronted, since their application is dependent on the will, criterion and interpretation of the justice operators. In this respect, it is interesting to cite the opinions of the Constitutionality Court on Agreement 169, where it is acknowledged that in Guatemala the legislators have the power to discriminate positively.

Section b): Related to the taking of legislative measures and of other nature that prohibit discrimination against women. Currently there is an initiative by the women’s organizations before the Ministry of Labor, aimed at eliminating discrimination against women in the labor legislation; however, the State has yet to approve said proposal and sanction it to the legislative organ.

Section c): To establish the juridical protection of women’s rights on a basis of equality with those of men and to guarantee, by means of the competent national tribunals and other public institutions, women’s effective protection against any and all acts of discrimination. In this respect, the Guatemalan legislation still discriminates against women and furthermore, the family and labor tribunals have not complied with the Convention, since they require that women, in order to state their complaints and demands, have the help of a lawyer, which is difficult for them due to the lack of resources and knowledge.

Here it must be mentioned that in 1997, by means of a reform of the Penal Process Code, it was established that in Article 24, Section 2 of that legal body, the offense of negation of economic assistance and various offenses of the sexual type, are of "public action, dependent of a particular instance", which actually means that the Guatemalan State is turning its back on the thousands of Guatemalan women that have the need to reach a penal trial, after having substantiated several civil suits, seeking that their husbands or partners comply with their obligation of providing food for their children.

Currently, since last year, an action proposed by activist women is being negotiated before the Constitutionality Court, by means of which they are requesting the abolition of this article since it violates express norms of the Constitution that establish the State’s tutelage over family, childhood, the obligation of caring for the health, education and nutrition of the population. This is a case of indirect discrimination, or by result, which makes its correct comprehension and interpretation difficult in the light of CEDAW, due to the civil trend already mentioned and the little knowledge and use of the Human Rights international norms by the Guatemalan justice operators.

Furthermore, the constitutional magistrates have proved to be totally insensitive vis-à-vis the serious damage caused by this penal process reform and they have stopped the file. The law stipulates that an action of this type should not last more than two months; nevertheless, it was presented on June 29, 2001 and to date it has not been resolved.

It is important to note in this Report that in the case of Guatemala, the women’s movement has been especially active in this type of legal actions. Important advances have been achieved in the abolition of discriminatory legislation by way of interposing and substantiating actions of this type. Thus, in 1995 they managed to abolish the entire chapter of the Penal Code regarding adultery and concubinage, as well as the reforms to the Civil Code in matters of conjugal regime. They also started another action that was declared unfounded by the Constitutionality Court, but which was taken before the Human Rights Interamerican Commission.

It must be acknowledged that the State instituted two mechanisms to care for the victims: a) the Women’s District Attorney’s Office and b) Victim’s Care Office, both in the Public Ministry, but it is also worthwhile noting that these do not have qualified personnel to grant proper service, nor the financial and technical resources necessary and finally, they lack the appropriate attention criteria.

Sections d) and e): Referred to the mandate of checking that the authorities and public institutions, organizations, companies or individuals do not incur in discriminatory acts and practices against women. As mentioned above, the mandate has not been applied due to the lack of the legislators’ will, and the non-entitlement of the rights. For example: the respective instances in the Executive Power dedicated to the labor aspects do not monitor the application of the norm.

On the other hand, the Human Rights Prosecutor does not supervise that the State powers comply with their functions. For this reason, the acts of discrimination, harassment, rape, murder and violence against women are daily occurrences. To prove this, it is only necessary to read the dailies or watch the news on television. Here we must mention the enactment of Decree 17-73, which contains the reform to the Penal Code in its Article 196, which regulates and sanctions the obscene publications and shows, thereby regulating pornography in the social communications media.

Sections f) and g): Adopt all the adequate measures, included the ones of legislative nature, to modify or derogate laws, regulations, uses and practices that constitute discrimination against women. Derogate all the national penal dispositions that constitute discrimination against women. In 1999, the Constitutionality Court declared unconstitutional Articles 232 trough 235, of Chapter II, Title V of the Penal Code Decree 17-73, corresponding to adultery offenses for women and concubinage for men. These articles typified and penalized in a different manner for the married women and men, one same action –conjugal infidelity. But as we mentioned before, this was not a spontaneous act or in compliance of CEDAW on the part of the Guatemalan State, but rather a sentence they were forced to issue, given the strong pressure of the Women’s Movement.

Likewise, the following Civil Code articles were reformed: 87 (referred to the nationality of the married woman), 109 (conjugal representation for both spouses). 110 (establishes the obligation to take care of the children for both spouses), 112 (regarding the preferential right over the salary of the man or woman, as the case may be), 113, 114 (abolishes the prohibition that women must obtain the husband’s permission to be able to work), 118 (about the marriage capitulations), 131 (grants to both spouses the administration of the conjugal patrimony), 132 (authorizes equally men and women to oppose the other spouse from encumbering the conjugal patrimony), 133 (derogates the limitations imposed on women for the administration of the conjugal patrimony) and 137 (protection of the common goods) by means of Decree 80-98 enacted on November 19, 1998. These modifications constitute the broadest reform produced to date.

The modified articles eliminate important limitations to the exercise of women’s rights, as now happens with the conjugal representation, which used to be only for the husband and is now for both of them. Article 110 related to the protection of women, acknowledges now that both spouses have the obligation of looking after and caring for their minor children and others. However, it must be mentioned that there are still articles in this Code that must be modified because they are detrimental to the rights of women, such as in the case of articles: 89, 97, 108, 115, 134, 162, 169, 216, 219, 299 and 317.

It is worthwhile to indicate that in the year 1991 the Human Rights Deputy Public Prosecutor, proposed an unconstitutionality action against Articles 108 and 115 (Duties and Rights in Marriage) due to the fact that in them, the representation and leadership of the household was conferred to men, passing on to women only in case of interdiction, absence, death or sentencing of the husband, and men were also granted the administration of the domestic economy. This proposed action was declared unfounded by the Constitutionality Court in 1993, in spite of the pertinence and evidence of same. For this reason, the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Lic. Maria Eugenia Morales de Sierra took the case before the Human Rights Interamerican Commission, an action that achieved that the Guatemalan legislators hastened in enacting the alluded reform to prevent a possible sentence against the Guatemalan State.

Likewise, the Law to Prevent, Sanction and Eradicate Intrafamily Violence (Decree 94-96) was sanctioned. This law was seriously questioned by the women’s organizations because it restricted the boundaries of violence to the family, when the physical, sexual or psychological violence is exercised against women in the public environment as well as in the domestic one, in spite of the fact that having ratified in 1994 the Convention to Prevent, Sanction and Eradicate Violence against Women, it had the obligation to dictate special measures in that sense.

The Guatemalan State also dropped the sexual harassment, because Congress did not accept the request of the women’s organizations and groups. Thus the law, even though it constitutes an advance, has a limitative nature. On the other hand, after two years of its enactment the advances are limited, due to: the justice operators, the national civil police force, and the district attorneys, who do not apply the law diligently. This, in spite of the fact that a number of national and international non-government organizations have given them sensitization and training courses and workshops.

Article 3: Still within most of the regulations, laws, practices and uses currently in force, there persist practices and uses that discriminate against women in the context of the economic, political, social and cultural relationships. Covering the mandate of Article 3, the State powers should be taking measures of diverse types, such as: a) Allocation of financial resources for the execution of women’s policy on the part of the Executive organ; b) the Legislative entity should be enacting modifications to the discriminatory laws; c) the Judicial power should be sanctioning the discrimination in the application of justice, interpreting adequately the laws, applying the international norms on women’s Human Rights in its daily practice and the Human Rights Public Prosecutor should be denouncing the State’s lack of measures-taking, its actions and omissions.

Article 4: Related to the temporary measures of positive action. To date the only measures promoted by women’s organizations that have been submitted for the consideration of the Legislative body, were the quotas within the political parties proposed in the bill of the Dignifying Law, which have also been promoted as reforms to the Electoral and Political Parties Law, always by women’s organization’s coalitions and sometimes by mixed organizations. However, in the subject of the positive measures or quotas, the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, as well as the representatives of Congress, have been especially reluctant and these have always been rejected.

Section a): Referred to the modification of the social/cultural conduct patterns, this task should be the responsibility of the entire State, especially the Ministries of Education and Culture. Besides, in the Peace Agreements the governmental obligation of spreading CEDAW and working in the modification of the discriminatory social/cultural patterns, as well as promoting women’s dignity, especially the indigenous ones, was established.

The Ministry of Education must contemplate within the educational reform, the re-shaping of the education’s philosophy, principles and values and all the measures that tend to eliminate the sexual and ethnic stereotypes, to revalue the image, role, activities, authority and power of women in the different environments of the scientific knowledge, culture, history and literature. However, the present educational reform is being carried out without concrete proposals to promote equality among women and men, proposals that should be reflected in the school curricula, and in the philosophy, principles, values and contents of the educational system.

Section b): In this point, as in the previous one, the joint efforts of the Ministries of Culture and Education, the SEPREM (Women’s Presidential Secretariat) and other State ministries and secretariats are required, with the purpose of boosting programs with focus on equality that permit start creating a social conscience regarding responsible parenthood. They still do not exist.

Part IV, Article 15:

Section 1: The State Parties acknowledge women’s equality vis-à-vis men before the law. This is established at the Constitutional level; however, there are a number of laws and regulations that still maintain the discrimination in the norms in force. (Example: in the rendering of services regime in force in the Social Security System, only the wife and children of the deceased male worker receive a pension, and not the husband and children of the deceased female worker, even if she has actually contributed for several years to the system. The same patriarchal bias existed in the rendering of services in the State University, but this was corrected some time ago.

Section 2: Regarding the acknowledgement of the equal juridical capability and opportunities of women in civil matters, especially the right to sign contracts and administer assets and dispensing equal treatment in all the stages of the procedures in the courts of justice and tribunals. Here we must note that although in the norms in force there are no explicit limitations for the exercise of women’s capability to execute contracts and administer assets, there are serious obstacles to access justice and the tribunals, given the ideological structure of the agents responsible for applying justice, who do not consider women’s demands as priorities.

The patriarchal culture in force limits de facto this equality, aside from women’s ignorance of the laws and their rights, which restricts women in the real capability of exercising their rights.

Section 3: In this respect there are no limiting rights, but as in the previous case, it consists of the criteria of the agents that apply justice.

Section 4: There are no juridical limits; however, women see their freedom to move around permanently threatened when the partners, husbands or live-ins attack them for exercising this right, in view of the omission of the justice agents, who have serious limitations to understand women’s rights related to this principle.

Part IV, Article 16:

Section 1: The State Parties shall adopt all the adequate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters related to marriage and the family relationships particularly. They will ensure, under conditions of equality for men and women:

Section a): the same right to marry;

Section b): the same right to freely choose spouse and be married only of their own free will and full consent;

Section c): the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and on occasion of its dissolution;

Section d): the same rights and responsibilities as parents, whichever their marital status, in matters related to their children; in all cases, the interests, rights and civil obligations of the children shall be the primary consideration;

Section e): the same right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means that allow them to exercise these rights;

Section f): the same rights and responsibilities regarding the tutelage, custody and adoption of children, or analogous institutions when it is desired that these concepts exist in the national legislation; in all cases, the interests of the children shall be the primary consideration;

Section g): the same personal rights as husband and wife, among them the right to choose surname, profession and occupation;

Section h): the same rights for each one of the spouses in matters of property, purchases, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of the goods, both gratuitously and onerously.

Section 2: the children’s betrothals and engagements shall have no juridical effect and all the necessary measures shall be taken, including those of legislative nature, to set a minimum age for the celebration of marriage, and make mandatory the inscription of marriage in an official registry.

It is worth noting here that, as commented in the preceding pages, some modifications to the legislation have been given. Such is the case of the Civil Code (analyzed in sections f) and g) of part I), the Penal Code and other laws; however, most of them are due to the activism of the women’s organizations. In spite of this, many of the reforms or laws achieved are not positive, due to the patriarchal uses and culture rampant in tribunals and in the rest of the State administration, as well as to the lack of diffusion and proper application of women’s Human Rights international norms and the national norms that protect them. On the other hand, as mentioned above, there are still pending reforms within the Civil Code.

3.3 Civil Rights: The Participation and Representation of Women in the Framework of Institutional Politics

This section is contemplated in the Convention in Part II, Articles 7, 8 and 9 and their respective sections. We proceeded as in the subject of parts I and IV, to examine one by one the articles of the Convention as follows:

Part II, Articles 7, 8 and 9

Article 7: In relation to the States’ commitments aimed at taking all the necessary measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the country’s public and political life and particularly to guarantee the equality of conditions with men. It is worth noting that Guatemala is also signatory of the Convention on Women’s Political Rights, which it ratified on September 18, 1959.

Even though the Guatemalan State has the sufficient international basis, the women’s organizations consider that we must start by revising the laws, regulations and norms in force on all those issues that imply political participation and representation, because the justice operators do not utilize the international norms as a referential framework that protects women’s rights, due to which this revision is considered important starting from:

a) The case of the Electoral and Political Parties Law, which as a basic referential framework should contemplate positive action measures that stimulate women’s political participation and representation; however, the proposal presented by the women’s organizations related to the establishment of quotas for the political parties with the purpose that they should include 35% of women in their popular election lists, was rejected in the respective Congress commission. As an example of the little relevance attributed by the parties and the Civic Committees to the participation of women, is the case of the municipal major’s offices that are 331 popular election posts, where women are represented by only one woman. (See graph 1)

Section a): Even though there are few juridical basis to achieve women’s political representation in management positions because there is no framework law to regulate this, the participation of women in the decision-making processes is not assumed in a stable manner within the political parties, civic committees and other forms of political organization. As an example, it is important to point out that the parties and civic committees convoke and work with women during the electoral periods and once the elections are over, women cease to be important to them.

The Women’s Presidential Secretariat –SEPREM- protected by the Dignifying and Integral Promotion of Women Law, promoted and achieved the participation of two representatives of the women’s organizations in the councils at the national, regional and departmental level: Chapter II: Integration and Functions: Article 5, Integration of the National Council for Urban and Rural Development. Article 7, Integration of the Regional Councils for Urban and Rural Development. Article 9: Integration of the Urban and Rural Departmental Councils, whilst at the same time it guaranteed SEPREM’s participation in the national and regional environment with 9 representatives. This is considered an advancement since it is the first time that women’s representation is acknowledged by law.

The above is considered an achievement of the tasks performed by SEPREM. However, it is worth indicating that the process of women’s integration into the development councils is based on a historical proposal, which women had been working on in the Development Councils Law and in the Dignifying Law.

On the other hand, the reforms to the Municipal Code contemplate in Title III, Government and Administration of the Municipalities, in Chapter I: Government of the Municipality, Article 36: Organization of Commissions, the creation within the obligatory commissions to be instituted by the Municipal Council, the commission of "the family, women and childhood". This commission is considered an advance, in spite of the fact that the women’s organizations and groups have been fighting to separate the "family" concept from the proposals of women individually and collectively, because what is sought is that women achieve the status of a political, social, economic and cultural being.

Section b): In relation to exercising the right to vote in the electoral processes, referendum and others and being eligible for all the organisms whose members are elected by public voting, we inform you that even though there are no limitations to the participation of women in electoral processes and other activities, women, and especially the indigenous rural ones, and those of scarce resources from the semi-urban areas, face the obstacle of not having legal documents that can identify them and allow them to participate in the electoral processes as voters. In this aspect it can be mentioned that there is no political will, as previously stated, to guarantee women’s representation in the popular election positions.

In relation to the eligibility process for positions in public organisms. In the months of February through June several public positions have been subject to voting, as in the case of 10 members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (5 regulars and 5 substitutes) in which the responsible organs presented 30 candidates, of which only 5 were women; 2 were elected, one as regular and the other as substitute. This is the largest number of women elected since the existence of this organ. (See graph 2)

In the case of the election of the Human Rights Public Prosecutor, of the 38 candidates, only 4 of them were women and none of them was finally elected. (See graph 3). On the other hand, the Nation’s Attorney General was elected; once again women were obviated, in spite of the campaign by the Beijing Committee and CLADEM-Guatemala and other women’s organizations in Congress and the political parties for the election of women to public posts. (See graph 3)

Likewise, it is important to assess the scarce and/or null women’s representation in high positions of the State’s administration, where the administration organs as at the year 2002 were: (See graph 4) The Executive, Legislative and Judicial entities evidence deep gaps in the participation: the Executive, out of 82 high positions (ministers, vice-ministers, secretaries, directors and sub-directors) only 14 are women (See graph 5). In the Legislative Organ, out of 113 officers, 8 are women. It is important to highlight that during the present legislature, women’s participation decreased, since in the previous period out of 80 representatives, 12 were women (See graph 6).

In the Judicial organism, out of 362 judges, only 70 are women, whilst in the Supreme Court of Justice, head of the Judicial Organism, out of a total of 13 magistrates, only 2 are women; in the Constitutionality Court, out of 10 members one is a woman; in the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, out to 10 members (5 regulars and 5 substitutes), there is one woman as regular and another one as substitute (See graphs 7, 8, 9, and 10).

Section c): Participating in non-government organizations and associations that deal with the country’s public and political life. There is a large number of women that has yet to be determined participating in non-government organizations, especially those related to women and children. However, in the case of the mixed organizations there exists a visible difference in the participation and especially in the political location of these women in the organizations, where they hold the least relevant positions in the administration. Clear examples of this are the cooperatives’ consortia such as Guatemala’s Confederation of Cooperatives –CONFECOOP- where in the three levels of the organization, the women find themselves in the base of the pyramid, but not in any of the higher levels (See graph 14). Another field in which there still exists a strong patriarchal bias and a traditional male predominance, is in the Syndicates, where the women with relevant positions are scarce.

Of the political parties, only one of them incorporated into its internal norms the positive measures so that women could be part of the leading party organs and for the candidacies to popular election positions.

Article 8: The State Parties shall take all the appropriate measures to guarantee women, under equal conditions as men and without any discrimination whatsoever, the opportunity to represent their Government in the international arena and to participate in the work of the international organizations. In the international environment the same phenomenon of the discrimination against women is produced. Currently, in the international management positions, only the Women’s Presidential Secretariat holds positions of international representation before the Women’s Interamerican Commission and in the Coordination of the Central American Governmental Entities, due to the nature of the positions.

Article 9:

Section 1: The State Parties shall grant to women and men equal rights to acquire, change or maintain their nationality. They shall guarantee in particular that neither marriage to a foreigner nor the change of nationality of the husband during marriage shall change the nationality of the wife. As in the previous case, the Guatemalan State has subscribed and ratified the Convention on the Nationality of the Married Woman.

Section 2: The State Parties shall grant to women the same rights as men, with respect to the nationality of their children. In this sense what is needed is a broad diffusion process of women’s rights.

3.4 The Measures in Matters of Education and Professional Training

Part III, Article 10:

Article 10: It determines adopting all the appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women, with the purpose of ensuring her equality of rights with men in the educational environment. In this respect, the Guatemalan State has made advances; however, there are still several efforts that remain to be made in different directions: a) the extension of the educational coverage for girls with the object of guaranteeing minimally their entry, permanence and exit up to the 6^th grade of primary education. This niche continues being a challenge for the national education system, which although it increased slightly in some cases the rates of school enrollment, the repeating and dropout rates of schoolgirls continues high (See graphs 15-19). b) Allocate more resources to the participation incentives’ program for girls. In this sense, the largest part of the scholarship allocations for girls comes from contributions made by the international cooperation; c) Improve the educational infrastructure, schedules, and closeness of the educational centers, especially in the rural areas, where girls must travel long distances and d) Develop sensitization programs for parents so they can ponder on the importance of education for their daughters. These elements are considered in the women’s policy; nevertheless, they have not yet been assumed by the Ministry of Education, nor does it have the resources for its execution. In 1999, the MINEDUC initiated these programs, however, they did not continue, which in itself is a backward step.

In this environment, it is the non-government organizations and the International Cooperation the ones that have made the biggest efforts. These entities initiate programs aimed directly at girls, but when the cooperation is withdrawn, they do not continue and their coverage decreases dramatically.

Section a): Give boys and girls the same orientation conditions in matters of careers and professional training, access to studies and acquisition of diplomas.

Section b): Access to the same study programs and the same exams, teaching staff of the same professional level and premises and teaching equipment of the same quality.

Section c): The elimination of all stereotyped concepts of the masculine and feminine roles in all the levels and in all forms of teaching, by means of the stimulation of co-education and other types of education that contribute towards achieving that goal.

To achieve the above-mentioned concepts of the three previous sections, the Ministry of Education –MINEDUC- must start in the educational reform from a different philosophy, principles and values about the conception of education and of the image, roles, activities, knowledge, dexterities, authority and power of women, which means that it should rescue women as a social, economic, political, and cultural being in the contents of philosophy, literature, science and arts. To achieve this, it is necessary to start from a new dimension of the human being.

For this it must develop educational curricula in which women and men co-educate themselves within a sharing of principles, values, philosophy, customs, without double messages, without different valuations of themselves, without exclusions related to activity, roles, authority and power of men and women in the private and public environments.

To date Guatemala is in the process of the educational reform, contemplated in the Peace Agreements. On the other hand, the Government has a Women’s Policy; however, the educational reform has not integrated fundamental premises of equality between women and men. At the same time, in the process of integration of same, only a small number of women’s organizations are invited and only to validate documents that have already been elaborated and not to participate in the conception process.

Section d): The same opportunities for obtaining scholarships and other subsidies to pursue a career. In this sense, as mentioned before, the Government has as its only incentives program the system of "scholarships". The same one for girls and boys and a specific one for rural girls, which consists of an economic support amounting to Q. 300.00 per school year (9 months) i.e., Q. 33.33 per month. This system still has a very reduced coverage, and the resources come mostly from the international cooperation. (See graphs annexed).

Section e): The same access opportunities to the programs of complementary education, including the programs of functional literacy and for adults. Guatemala as a country maintains as its great challenge the elimination of illiteracy from its national system. It continues being the second country in Latin America with the largest illiteracy rates. In the case of women the problem is bigger and especially in the indigenous rural women and those in the semi-urban areas. Even though advances have been produced, we must point out that it continues being a challenge, especially in the case of women. On the other hand, it must be sought to support the post-literacy efforts that guarantee the development of objective capabilities and that motivate new abilities and dexterities in women for their personal and collective self-improvement.

Section f): The reduction of the female dropout rate and the organization of programs of those teenagers and women that have left their studies prematurely. This point was approached in the first part of the development of Article 10, in reference to the problem of the desertion of girls from the school system; however, in the case of programs aimed at recapturing adolescents or women that have dropped out of school, the State does not have a program of this type that will motivate the interest of the young and inform the parents about the importance of their children’s education to advance towards development.

The timid advances in matters of the search for progress in the situation and condition of women have paved the way for some good intentions and even some proposals for change. But this is not enough to make positive the State’s political will of eliminating discrimination against women, which demands not only will but also the resources necessary to turn that will into reality.

Section h): Access to the specific information material that contributes to ensuring the health and well being of the family, including the information on family planning. On this issue, the recent approval of the Dignifying and Integral Promotion of Women Law, which contains an extensive chapter on the subject, the Law of Social Development and the statement of the Social Development Policy, constitute advances; however, financial and technical resources have not yet been allocated to initiate the start-up of the measures contemplated in said documents. On the other hand, social diffusion programs for women and men, for justice operators and public officers must be simultaneously developed, on the contents of these instruments.

3.5 The Right to Work and the Labor Rights

Part III, Article 11:

Section 1: The State Parties shall adopt all the necessary measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the employment environment, with the purpose of ensuring, under equality conditions for men and women, the same rights. Guatemala is signatory of the Covenant 111, related to Discrimination in Matters of Employment and Occupation. On the other hand, the social organizations have developed a reform proposal to the Labor Code, to the Civil Service Law and to the Social Security Law; these are still being studied by the authorities of the respective organs.

In this environment one can appreciate the vulnerability and discrimination suffered by Guatemalan women, especially the agricultural workers and the workers of the maquila (home-based work) industry, which fundamentally occupy female labor, given the scarce knowledge they have of their rights and the greater easiness they present for their inhuman exploitation. In this sector several violations of labor rights and of sexual and reproductive rights have been documented, but there has not been a consistent effort on the part of the State to approach this problem. In this respect, the Ministry of Labor is training the private sector but not the public one.

The situation of the workers in private homes (maids), which are grouped in organizations and have presented a specific law proposal, is dramatic because the proposal has not been duly accepted by the Legislative entity and has no chance of being enacted.

Section b): Same job opportunities and same selection criteria for women and men in employment matters. In the opinion of the women’s organizations to guarantee this premise, the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevision has the responsibility of undertaking several actions: a) Reforming the Labor Code; b) Regulating the reforms; c) Developing programs for social and employers’ sensitization; d) Exercising control through work inspectors on the application of the equality or non-discrimination for women by means of revising the contracting processes and the work conditions. In this aspect we have to mention that the access of women to work is limited since the advertisements in the newspapers requesting feminine staff specify a certain age range, single status and other requirements and e) Performing investigations and studies regarding complaints presented by women. The women’s organizations request the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to recommend to the Government the creation of policies, strategies and programs that guarantee women’s access to full employment under equal conditions with men.

Section c): The right to freely choose profession and employment, the right to promotion, to job stability and to all loans, the right to a superior professional education and the periodic training. The Ministry of Labor, as the regulator of the work and employment policy has the responsibility of verifying that the professional training policies both public and private do not discriminate against women, but furthermore, that in the process of taking in participants for the programs, women are made aware of these training programs and are invited to participate in them. On the other hand, the Ministry of Labor must take efficient measures that permit women in the informal sector and others to access the professional training that will allow them to improve their abilities and skills and through these, the access to better job opportunities, since attempts have been made but have never materialized.

Section e): The right to Social Security. This is a right and at the same time a challenge for the Guatemalan Social Security due to the fact that the majority of the population, especially women, do not yet enjoy the benefits of this service because they are part of the economy’s informal sector. On the other hand, in the case of women that should indeed be inscribed, most of them are not, on account of the scarce regulation and supervision exercised by the State on the contracting systems.

Section f): The right to the protection of health and the safe working conditions, including safeguarding of the reproduction function. As in the previous case, it requires the permanent monitoring of the Ministry of Labor and the application of the norms by the courts and justice operators.

Section 2: Prevent discrimination against women for reasons of marriage or maternity and ensure the effectiveness of her right to work.

Section 2.a): Prohibit, under penalty of sanctions, the termination due to pregnancy or maternity leave and the discrimination on the basis of marital status.

Section 2.b): Implement the maternity leaves with paid salary or with comparable social loans, without the loss of the previous job.

Section 2.c): Sponsor the supply of support social services necessary so that parents are able to combine the family obligations with the job responsibilities and the participation in public life.

Section 2.d): Grant special attention to women during pregnancy in the types of work that have proved to be potentially harmful for her.

The State’s norms in force in these cases protect the pre and post-natal, and breastfeeding periods, payment of benefits. An acceptable level of application regarding these items has been achieved, more in the capital and urban zones than in the rural areas, where women are totally unprotected because the norms are not applied and the Ministry of Labor does not count with the necessary resources to monitor these rights and their application.

On the other hand, in the case of the contracting of women, the criterion of hiring single women who are not about to be married or married women who are not planning on becoming pregnant soon, continues to weigh heavily. As in the other cases, the Ministry of Labor must exercise its efficient monitoring and follow-up functions of women’s complaints.

A final reflection in this environment is that in spite of having a protective Labor Code, this protection is not applied in the tribunals and the labor jurisdiction has become almost "civil" given the quantity of requirements demanded for substantiation. In the administrative environment there is secular corruption and scarce personnel assigned to the supervision tasks. Regarding the rights of the female employees, these have been violated when the organization of syndicates in the "maquilas" was restricted.

3.6 Some Aspects of Health and Reproductive Health

Part III, Article 12:

Section 1): Eliminate discrimination against women in the medical attention sphere with the purpose of ensuring access to the medical attention services.

Section 2): Guarantee women appropriate services related to pregnancy, birth and post-natal period, providing free services when necessary and ensuring them an appropriate nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Achieving coverage extension of medical attention in health to women beyond the maternity/infantile and gynecology/obstetrics services is the permanent vindication of women, because the health system only sees them in their reproductive function. For this, the Ministry of Health must, in principle, view women as integral human beings, therefore capable of contracting any type of sickness or accident.

Starting from there, create prevention programs, such as nutritional health, hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, safety and others that contribute to improving their health. On the other hand, the family planning programs for women and men that can contribute to decreasing the high maternity rates, the early pregnancies and the short birth spacing, all of them contemplated in the Social Development Law and Policy, are in progress. Nevertheless, the program does not contemplate another type of needs, which place at risk the lives of women, such as nutrition, cancer and HIV/AIDS.

3.7 Economic Development: The Access to Resources and Services

Part III, Article 13:

Article 13: Eliminate discrimination against women in other spheres of the economic and social life. The social/economic indicators presented in women’s social profile in Guatemala reveal the degree of development achieved by women and the lack of commitment and will, evident in the State institutions.

Section a): The right to family services. This principle is still far away from the one imagined by the Guatemalan women, in the first place because to date, as proposed by the women’s movement, the first investigation has been undertaken, aimed at establishing the value of their work within the family unit and trying to quantify it in the national accounts. This allows the national system to have an idea of the contributions made by women to the national economy by means of the productive and reproductive work of the family unit. However, the time to seek some sort of ethical/moral retribution is still far off, more so the material retribution, either in services or resources.

Section b): The right to obtain bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit. At this point it is worth highlighting that women’s economic activities are not acknowledged as a contribution to the national and family economy, only as an extension of domestic work, therefore they are made socially invisible and de-authorized, in matters related to: commercial transactions, contracts, finance, patrimony, and loans. On the other hand, in Guatemala, as shown in various studies performed by the women’s movement, the banking system is unable to grant loans to women due to the high interest rates and the guarantee requirements in force.

Moreover, due to the large number of requirements placed by the banking institutions, it is very difficult for women to obtain financing. For starters, a high percentage of women do not have identification documents and are illiterate, which makes it difficult for them to initiate the dealings to request a loan. This verifies that the economic system and its institutions act within a rigid framework that although it does not discriminate at the formal level, in the practice it is excluding. There is a significant difference, in detriment of women, vis-à-vis the loans granted (37% to women and 63% to men). In the different types of activities, the amount of the loans to women is less than those to men. A special case is agriculture, where the proportion is more balanced. When you analyze the type of mortgage guarantee (which assumes having properties) the relation between men and women is unbalanced since women lack property in their name. (See Chart 2 in Annexes).

Section c): The right to participate in leisure and sport activities and in all aspects of the cultural life. This is a subject that has not yet been acknowledged as priority in women’s demands, due to the fact that the survival need has prevailed and more so, the State does not have specific programs that indicate compliance of this objective.

Article 14:

Section 1): Consider the special problems faced by the rural women and the important role she plays in the family’s economic survival, through her work in the non-monetary sectors of the economy. The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the application of the dispositions of the present Convention to women of the rural zones.

Section 2): Ensure under equal conditions for women and men, her participation in the rural development and its benefits, and in particular ensure the right to:

Section 2a): Participate in the elaboration and execution of the development plans at all levels.

Section 2b): Having access to adequate services of medical attention, including information, advice and services related to family planning.

In order to promote with special emphasis the development of rural women, who are the most affected by the largest inequality gaps, it is required that the State guarantees minimally the access to necessary resources and services of: education, integral and reproductive health, access to productive resources such as credit and the financing for production, land, low-cost housing, training and technological, commercial and administrative advice.

During the last decade women have participated in the identification, development of proposals for policies, strategy, plans, economic and social development programs and projects through the initiatives promoted by women’s organizations and groups. However, it must be recognized that since 1997 the State has started to establish policies and strategies in consultation with the latter. This is the case with the National Policy for the Promotion and Development of the Guatemalan Women and the Equal Opportunities Plan 2000 – 2006, which was the product of the women’s movement consensus and the Government. This is also how the Social Development Law, the Dignifying Law and the Law for the Promotion and Development of Women came to be.

The Guatemalan Government, through the President’s Wife Social Works Secretariat (SOSEP), boosts the Promotion of Rural Women Program, providing the following services for rural women: loans to associations, labor training and equipment for training centers, demonstrative units, transfer of services and technologies to lighten domestic work, education for women, social organization and citizen’s participation. Nevertheless, coverage is minimal: 291 women received soft loans in one year; 136 women received seed capital and 690 women received support in the marketing of their products. Also, 3,527 women received on-the-job training. These women do not even represent 1% of the female rural population. Besides, this program does not guarantee that the support granted to these women is part of an integral vision that includes citizens, social and economic development, which will make viable the improvement of the Guatemalan women’s life conditions.

Section 2d): Obtaining all types of education and training, academic or non-academic, including those related to the functional literacy. The literacy topic was developed in Article 10, section e).

Section 2e): Organizing self-help groups and cooperatives with the purpose of obtaining equal access to economic opportunities by means of the self-employment or employment by others.

Section 2g): Access to agricultural credit and loans, to marketing services and appropriate technology, and to receive equal treatment in the agrarian reform plans.

In relation to these mandates, the endeavors of the non-government organizations and the State have been aimed at organizing community banks of women. In the case of the government, it created the program for the promotion and development of women –PROMUJER- in the President’s Wife Social Works Secretariat. Since 1996, said program has promoted the productive organization of women through community banks and community associative companies. However, the amounts of the loans are still too low, Q. 1000 or Q. 500 and with a very small coverage that does not reach 1% of the female population.

These programs need to be increased, especially the ones for the community associative companies, which turn out to be the most advantageous because: a) They improve women’s productive capacity in relation to a certain productive area; b) Improvement of the local and national production; c) The marketing, administration and financing channels as well as others can be improved.

However, together with these programs, the State must promote the change in the credit norms and regulations so that women can have access to the resources for several uses: purchasing land, housing, production, marketing and others. Right now, access to financing and credit (with the exception of the referred companies) requires having requirements and guarantees that they do not possess.

Section 2f); Participating in all the community activities. This Mandate must be observed at all levels of the national organization: the community, municipality, department, region and the national environment. It is precisely in the rural areas where the participation of women in public matters is most difficult, due to the nature of the culture, ideology and patriarchal practices on the one hand, and in the other, the lack of knowledge on the part of women about their rights and the demand for these, hence the need that the different community authorities promote this participation, as well as those of the social and international organizations.

The recent creation of the new Decentralization Law, which constitutes the most important juridical innovation that orientates the decentralization process of the Public Power. And the reforms to the Development Councils Law and to the Municipal Code acknowledge within their integration the participation of the women’s organizations at the local, municipal and departmental level, providing the participation and interlocution spaces. Nevertheless, these are still too limited. For this reason, the rural women, as a product of the patriarchal system, have been conditioned in their participation. Hence, it is needed that the State and the international cooperation support training programs and projects for women, which can guarantee their participation under equal conditions in these spaces, to ensure the quality of participation and political incidence.

It is very important to boost women’s participation at the local level, through organizations, women’s networks and other organizational expressions that can maximize women’s participation, hence the need to maintain Women’s Forum and its various structures with the purpose of guaranteeing women’s participation at different levels, maximizing same with this structure, including the women of the various linguistic communities.

3.8 The National Policy for the Promotion and Development of Guatemalan Women and the Equal Opportunities Plan 2001 – 2006

Women’s national policy and the equal opportunities plan. These two instruments, according to the women’s organizations and groups, merits a special reference since it contributes a very important consensus effort between the women’s organizations and groups and the Women’s Presidential Secretariat –SEPREM-, considered the Guatemalan women’s general integral development framework. However, in relation to it, it is necessary to pinpoint the following important considerations: even though the government announced it and published it officially as the State’s official policy in matters of women’s development, promotion, and citizenship, to be operative, same requires: a) That the ministries (education, health, agriculture, labor and others) integrate it as the official policy of the different ministries, secretariats, and institutions of the Executive organ; b) That these ministries, secretariats, and institutions allocate a budget for its execution as well as technical and human resources and c) That the Women’s Presidential Secretariat monitor, verify and assess the degree of compliance, effectiveness and efficiency of same.

3.9 The Institutional Mechanisms for Women’s Advancement

In relation to the mechanisms of institutional nature for the advancement of the condition and position of women in the different spheres of the social, economic, political and cultural life, significant advances have been reported, due to the fact that new women’s instances have been created within the State, especially in the Executive organ during the last 2 years. Such is the case of the creation of:

a. The Women’s Presidential Secretariat –SEPREM- that was instituted as of the year 2000 as the instance of greater political hierarchy, with a budget allocated in the National Budget.

b. The Gender Unit: Rural Women and Youth was reinstated in the Ministry of Agriculture (it must be mentioned that in this Ministry, during the 90’s, three women’s units existed, which were gradually disappeared until none was left, until the year 2000.

c. The Women’s Consulting Council was reinstated in the Ministry of Health; previously, during the 90’s, the Health, Women and Development Program existed.

d. The Gender and Women Unit was created in the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

e. National Coordinator against Violence –CONAPREVI-

f. Program for the Prevention and Eradication of Intrafamily Violence, created in the President’s Wife Secretariat of Social Works –PROPEVI-

g. The Program for the Promotion and Development of Rural Women –PROMUJER-

h. The Women’s Forum in the Peace Secretariat

i. The Advice Unit on Women’s Matters, in the Peace Secretariat

j. The Gender Unit in the Social Investment Fund

k. The Indigenous Women Ombudsman Office in COPREDEH

l. The Women’s Unit in the Indigenous Development Fund –FODIGUA-

The creation of new units for the promotion and development of women is highly positive. However, if you assess the goals reached versus the commitments undertaken with women, which is to create women’s units in every Ministry, Secretariat and autonomous and semi-autonomous institution, we still have a long way to go. The creation of these units is important because they shall have the responsibility of boosting, monitoring and verifying the advance of the subject in the different instances.

The women’s organizations recommend to the CEDAW Committee asking the Guatemalan government how will it guarantee the permanence of the most important women’s institution –SEPREM- throughout the successive governmental relays.

3.10 Financial Resources

The women’s organizations and groups have considered that the topic of the budget allocations must be a fundamental part of this Report, given that the lack of resource allocation on the part of the State for the policies, plans, programs and projects aimed at promoting equality, development and women’ full participation in all the circles of the economic, political, social and cultural life, constitute one of the most serious obstacles to achieve the purposes of the Convention.

The global revision of the nation’s general budget by the State’s ministries and secretariats allow visualizing the degree of importance granted to the issue of women’s advancement. To verify this, they proceeded in principle to analyze the Guatemalan government’s general budget in two levels: a) the budget allocation that the 14 State ministries have on the one hand, and on the other, b) the budgets allocated to the State secretariats. The budgets allocated to the State ministries are effectively higher than those allocated to the secretariats (See graphs 21 and 22).

Upon doing the analysis of the budget allocations to the Secretariats, it was found that the Women’s Presidential Secretariat –SEPREM- has the smallest budget, except for the budget of the Specific Issues Secretariat, which as its name indicates, is engaged in very specific issues of the Presidency. SEPREM has 0.3% of the budget allocated to the Secretariats, way below that of the President’s Wife Social Works Secretariat, which has 2.7% of the budget, and is second among the secretariats, just beneath the Presidency’s Executive Secretariat, one of the most important secretariats, since it has the responsibility of boosting the processes of decentralization, modernization and de-incorporation of the State.

It is worthwhile recommending to the Executive power to increase the Women’s Presidential Secretariat’s budget and to include under its political, administrative and financial guidance, two instances that due to the nature of their activities should belong to it, such as the Women’s Forum and the Indigenous Women Ombudsman Office.

IV Conclusions and Recommendations

IV Conclusions and Recommendations

The work developed by the women’s organizations that participated in the elaboration of this report, together with the daily work experience performed from various environments and skills, as well as the investigations done with the different State instances in various moments of the work and especially on occasion of the elaboration of the national and international evaluations, such as Beijing +5 and the present Report, permit us to fundament the following conclusions:

Any explanation of the situation of Guatemalan women necessarily passes by a previous analysis of the Guatemalan social perception of what it means to be a woman, the unequal valuations over the importance of the activities performed by women and men in the micro and macro-social environments as well as the conceptions about the feminine and the masculine and how this is expressed in terms of the distribution of power and authority in the public environment as well as in the private one. The importance of all this lies in the fact that, through it, a system of social organization of patriarchal nature with deep implications in women’s daily life and therefore in their economic, social, political, cultural, individual and collective development, has been built.

Guatemalan women, in their various age phases, have a very low social development profile, expressed in discouraging socio-economic and political indicators. These indicators have not changed substantially in the last 10 years: some advance a little and others go backwards. One of the fundamental causes due to which the indicators improve is that the international cooperation has supported wholeheartedly women’s advance; however, once the cooperation ceases its contributions, the State does not allocate its own resources that allow continuing and sustaining these programs.

Most of the achievements in the processes of constitutional, legislative, administrative and other transformations, have been reached through the women’s movements in its various expressions, which have been boosting processes in different environments of political action that develop juridical reforms and new laws, public policies and socio-political participation, and instances for the prevention, sanction, and eradication of violence and many other topics.

The Guatemalan State and its several political institutions, even though they now "accept" the inclusion of the subject in some aspects of the national agenda, continue viewing it as an aggregate with which to satisfy some demands from the international cooperation and women. Nevertheless, they continue without understanding that women’s individual and collective development has deep implications for Guatemala’s general development and therefore it is not an occasional or marginal issue that is improvised or added as a component, but rather it is a different conception of the problem, to be treated as corresponds.

The first obstacle to position properly the issue lies in the State’s and the Guatemalan society’s profound ideological/cultural structures, for whom women continue being perceived as second-class citizens and therefore do not reach the category of economic, political, social and cultural beings. From there we derive the need to transform the system of values, principles, practices and customs that orient and rule the philosophy and the social, political, economic and cultural relationships of the system. Hence the transcendental importance of the focus of the formal and informal education system, of the communications media and of all forms of scientific, cultural, literary, historical, artistic and political expression.

The consolidation of democracy in Guatemala necessarily passes through the legal, political, social and cultural acknowledgement of the rights of all the citizens, male and female. This means the acknowledgement of the legislated rights and those in practice. The States shall not be true Democracies if they are not willing to enforce those human rights; neither will those States that have subscribed the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women be able to achieve such degree of evolution if they do not adjust their conduct to it.

The women’s organizations and groups have sought the interlocution with the State institutions, with the purpose of guaranteeing the success of the negotiations they have been carrying out; however, just good will declarations will not suffice, it is now required to express that will in concrete terms with the enunciation of measures, the start-up of policies, and legislative judicial, political, institutional and budgetary mechanisms that will allow translating those enunciations into visible, concrete practices.

The careful verification of each one of CEDAW’s articles and sections, against the revision of the State’s policies, strategies, norms, mechanisms, plans and programs, allow the organizations that subscribe the present Report, to request the support of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in making recommendations to the Guatemalan State aimed at:

Achieving the internal application of the Convention, the national and international agreements in matters of women’s rights, with the purpose of guaranteeing that the justice operators will apply said norms permanently in their awards and actions, in order to eliminate the discriminatory measures against women. On the other hand, in all the approval processes of new norms, one must start from an inclusive focus, without patriarchal and oppressive for women conceptions.

That the different Ministries, Secretariats and Autonomous, Semi-Autonomous, and Decentralized State Institutions, assume within their sector policies, plans, programs and projects, the National Policy for the Promotion and Development of Guatemalan Women and the Equal Opportunities Plan 2001-2006, allocating the financial and technical resources for its execution, because they contemplate policies and programs dealing with equality in education, health, labor, economic development, land and housing, prevention, sanction and eradication of violence, political participation and institutional mechanisms for women’s advancement, which have not yet become operative.

That women’s access to the decision-making process in the different fields and levels of the national and international public life be strengthened, broadened and guaranteed through several mechanisms of political representation and participation, in virtue that women’s representation strengthens democracy and social peace.

Promoting dialog between women’s organizations and the State as a mechanism that permits the closeness between governors and governed, promoting the cooperation and mutual understanding from which proposals can be articulated, that allow the advancement of the position and condition of women, from the beginning of the processes and not just for legitimizing proposals.

That in the proposals generated by the State at the national, sub-regional, regional and international levels, they work from the beginning with the view and perspective of women in the State’s specialized instances and the women’s organizations and groups.

Guaranteeing the permanence and sustainability of the institutional mechanisms that promote women’s advancement, as guarantors of the subject’s tutelage within the different State organs and institutions.

Guaranteeing with its own funds the widening of the educational coverage, educational incentive programs for girls, adolescents and their parents that allow their permanence at least until the 6^th grade of primary education.

Guaranteeing free exercise and access to information to the women’s organizations and groups, in order to be able to develop social audit processes that allow monitoring, verifying and evaluating the degree of efficacy, efficiency, transparency and probity of the public administration.

V. Sources of Information