Youth in Action: Developing a Counseling System/Model Led by Chorti Maya Youth to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Communities of the Municipality of Jocotan, Department of Chiquimula (Guatemala)

Guatemala has the second highest prevalence of stunting in the world among children under 5 years of age and the highest in Latin America (49%). By any measure (income, education, health, stunting), rural, indigenous Maya people (who make up over half of the population) have the highest rates of deprivation. The central innovation proposed is the implementation of a new community counseling model for maternal and child health, with supportive supervision and the use of performance incentives, led by youth from Guatemalan rural, indigenous communities. The starting point is a strategy to generate knowledge about the causes of malnutrition in the area and about potential local solutions. Using the new knowledge, local youth will be trained to become community counselors of culturally appropriate good practices in maternal and child care that encourage higher gender equality. This is a clear innovation in the way counseling is done in a country of great cultural and linguistic diversity.