Guatemala

USAID is responding to rising humanitarian needs in the Northern Triangle, including working with Catholic Relief Services to distribute food and hygiene kits to people affected by the storms in Guatemala.

Catholic Relief Services

Key Developments

USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced more than $198 million in humanitarian assistance for Latin America and the Caribbean on June 8, including nearly $92 million for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Up to 4 million people will likely face Crisis—Integrated Food Security Phase Classification 3—or worse levels of acute food insecurity in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras through December, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network reports.

The effects of the coronavirus disease pandemic, rising commodity costs, and severe weather events exacerbate humanitarian needs among displaced people in Central America, according to World Vision.

Background

Guatemala is prone to a variety of natural hazards, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Since 2006, USAID has responded to eight disaster events in Guatemala. USAID typically works with non-governmental organizations to meet humanitarian needs and complement government relief efforts. In addition to direct disaster assistance, USAID supports ongoing disaster risk reduction activities and capacity building initiatives for disaster response in Guatemala and the larger Latin America and Caribbean region. For example, in 2012, USAID donated urban search-and-rescue (USAR) equipment to CONRED and Guatemalan USAR teams as part of an ongoing commitment to strengthen national response capacity.