Half of Guatemala’s children, nearly 2 million of them, suffer from chronic malnutrition. This affirmation comes from the Minister of the National Front to Combat Hunger in Guatemala, Andrés Bortrán, who is on an official mission to Brazil.
The Guatemalan government wants to deal with the problem by availing itself of Brazil’s experience in the battle against hunger and malnutrition.
To this end, Bortrán signed a cooperation agreement on Friday, March 4, with the Brazilian Minister of Social Development, Patrus Ananias.
The agreement stipulates that the Brazilian government will provide training to Guatemalan technical personnel in order to improve the implementation of food and nutritional security policies in that country.
“We are rallying governments and societies for a great international collective effort, led by President Lula, on behalf of eliminating hunger and malnutrition in our countries and around the world,” Ananias said.
According to Bortrán, rural and indigenous communities are the ones most affected by the problem of malnutrition. Seven of every ten Guatemalan children are malnourished in these areas.
Over the course of last week, the Guatemalan mission acquired familiarity with activities and projects developed by the Brazilian government, such as cistern construction, community restaurants, and food banks.
Besides the training, which will help in the implantation of these initiatives, Bortrán expressed interest in the experience of social mobilization to assure the continuity of these policies.
“We want to reinforce the theme of social mobilization, because it is essential that this effort be made by all of society, not by just one Administration or another, so that it can become sustainable,” he remarked.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil
