Upscaling access to quality health-care services for priority populations in Guatemala through public policy co-creation

 

In January 2024, Guatemala’s newly elected government launched the Pacto de Salud (Health Pact). The Pacto de Salud committed government and civil society to work in collaboration to design and implement health programs that integrate ancestral (indigenous) and institutional medicine; to recognize and integrate the work of traditional birth attendants; and to implement a model of family care which integrates all priority care services and intersectoral interventions to improve health.

To bring the unique and pioneering Pacto to life, this project will support its design, implementation and evaluation in 31 municipalities in five provinces. Participatory methods and techniques will be used to facilitate policy co-creation with users of services, civil society organizations, frontline providers and the authorities. This project will also use participatory methods to monitor and evaluate the results of implementing a co-created public policy.

The project also aims to improve access to quality, equitable and inclusive sexual, reproductive and maternal health and other essential services for women, adolescent girls and other disadvantaged groups. In addition, it will aim to address child malnutrition from an intersectoral perspective. Because each municipality will have their own process of co-creation, the aims and priorities will be adapted to local geographical and social challenges such as climate change and infectious diseases.