Empowering Indigenous adolescents and women for equitable SRHR in Guatemala

This project aims to address the main causes of gender inequality by improving access to gender and culturally responsive sexual and reproductive health and rights for Indigenous adolescent girls and women in Guatemala. The project seeks to use a digital health ecosystem that uses smartphones to overcome distance time and other barriers. It aims to achieve this by creating a network of health personnel and facilities able to provide health care that respects biomedical and Indigenous practices. The project also aims to transform and enhance sexual and reproductive health rights resources to meet women’s and adolescents’ demands. The project activities include: (1) providing health education training programs to community health workers health personnel and midwives on gender and culturally responsive sexual and reproductive health services; (2) enhancing health service delivery in rural communities with Indigenous and community-health stakeholders using the organization’s digital health ecosystem; (3) creating digital adolescent-friendly spaces for safe access to sexual and reproductive health services information and referrals; (4) strengthening data collection and dissemination at the community level and informing collaborative community health action plans using the digital health ecosystem; and (5) partnering with the Ministry of Health to achieve government ownership and sustainability.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) reduced adolescent pregnancies and maternal mortality by contributing to improved equitable sexual and reproductive health and rights for vulnerable and marginalized Indigenous women and adolescent girls; and (2) enhanced Indigenous women and girls' access to sexual health and reproductive resources and benefits and strengthened evidence-based decision-making for promoting and advocating for their health rights.