Peace Agreements Database

Country/entity

Guatemala

Region

Americas

Agreement name

Agreement on the Social and Economic Aspects and Agrarian Situation

Date

06/05/1996

Agreement status

Multiparty signed/agreed

Interim arrangement

No

Agreement/conflict level

Intrastate/intrastate conflict (Guatemalan Civil War (1960 - 1996)

Civil war broke out in Guatemala when numerous leftist and agrarian groups took up arms in 1960 in face of the repression from the conservative regime of Carlos Castillo Armas. The Armas regime came to power in 1954 following a CIA-backed coup against the leftist government of Jacobo Arbenz. The main rebel umbrella was the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). During the civil war numerous counts of genocide and mass disappearances occurred. In the late 1980s, when a civilian government came to power, the URNG changed tactics when releasing that they wouldn’t come to power through armed conflict. The war came to an end on December 29, 1996, and since then URNG converted to an official political party.

Guatemalan Civil War (1960 - 1996) )

Stage

Framework/substantive - partial (Multiple issues)

Conflict nature

Government

Peace process

45: Guatemala peace process

Parties

For the Government of the Republic of Guatemala:
Signed by:

Gustavo PORRAS CASTEJÓN

Brigadier General Otto PÉREZ MOLINA

Raquel ZELAYA ROSALES

Richard AITKENHEAD CASTILLO

For the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca, General Command
Signed by:

Commander Pablo MONSANTO

Commander Rolando MORÁN

Commander Gaspar ILOM

Carlos GONZALES

Third parties

For the United Nations
Signed by:

Marrack GOULDING, Under-Secretary-General

Jean ARNAULT, Moderator

Page 1, Letter dated 24 May 1996 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly, para 1

(The signing ceremony took place at the Mexican Foreign Ministry in the presence of Mr. Angel Gurría, Foreign Minister, and, amongst others, senior officials of the countries that are members of the Group of Friends of the Guatemalan Peace Process (Colombia, Mexico, Norway, Spain, the United States of America and Venezuela), representatives of the Assembly of Civil Society and other Guatemalan personalities.)

Description

Agreement split into four chapters: (I) Democratisation and Participatory Development - Government committed itself to increasing citizen participation. (II) Social Development - Promised high levels of government growth and restructuring of public expenditure to increase social investment. Included sections on education and training; health; social security; housing and work. (III) Agrarian Situation and Rural Development - Government agreed to strengthen provisions for consultation, to establish a trust fund to re-distribute undeveloped land, to develop a land register, new taxes on land and to implement speedy resolution of land conflicts. (IV) Modernisation of Government Services and Fiscal Policy.

Agreement document

GT_960506_AgreementOnSocio-economicAspectsOfAgrarianSituation.pdf []

Main category

Page 6, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development
B. Participation of women in economic and social development

11. The active participation of women is essential for Guatemala’s economic and social development, and the State has a duty to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

12. Recognizing women’s undervalued contributions in all spheres of economic and social activity, and particularly their efforts towards community improvement, the Parties agree that there is a need to strengthen women’s participation in economic and social development on equal terms.

13. To this end, the Government undertakes to take the specific economic and social situation of women into account in its development strategies, plans and programmes, and to train civil servants in analysis and planning based on this approach. This undertaking includes the following:

(a) Recognizing the equal rights of women and men in the home, in the workplace, in the production sector and in social and political life, and ensuring that women have the same opportunities as men, particularly with regard to access to credit, land ownership and other productive and
technological resources;

Education and training
(b) Ensuring that women have equal opportunities for education and training in the same conditions as men, and that any form of discrimination against women that may be found in school curricula is eliminated;

Housing

(c) Ensuring that women have equal access to housing of their own by eliminating the obstacles and
impediments that affect women in relation to rental property, credit and construction;

Health

(d) Implementing nationwide comprehensive health programmes for women, which involves giving women
access to appropriate information, prevention and health care services;

Labour

(e) Guaranteeing women’s right to work, which requires:

(i) Using various means to encourage vocational training for women;

(ii) Revising labour legislation to guarantee equality of rights and opportunities between men and women;

(iii) In rural areas, recognizing women as agricultural workers to ensure that their work is valued and remunerated;

(iv) Enacting laws to protect the rights of women who work as household employees, especially in relation to fair wages, working hours, social security and respect for their dignity;

Organization and participation

(f) Guaranteeing women’s right to organize and their participation, on the same terms as men, at the senior decision-making levels of local, regional and national institutions;

(g) Promoting women’s participation in public administration, especially in the formulation, execution and supervision of government plans and policies;

Legislation

(h) Revising national legislation and regulations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in terms of economic, social, cultural and political participation, and to give effect to the government commitments deriving from the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Page 10, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, A. Education and training
21. Education and training have a fundamental role in the country’s economic, cultural, social and political development. They are central to the strategy of
equity and national unity, and vital for economic modernization and international competitiveness. Reform of the educational system and of its administration is therefore necessary, as is the implementation of coherent and forceful State policies in the field of education, in order to achieve the following objectives:
... (b) To avoid the perpetuation of poverty and of social, ethnic, sexual and geographical forms of discrimination, particularly those which arise from the divide between urban and rural society;

Page 13, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, B. Health
23. The Parties agree on the need to promote a reform of the national health sector. This reform should be aimed at ensuring effective exercise of the fundamental right to health, without any discrimination whatsoever, and the effective performance by the State, which would be provided with the necessary resources, of its obligation with regard to health and social welfare. Some of the main points of this reform are as follows:
... Priority care
(d) The system would give priority to efforts to fight malnutrition and to promote environmental sanitation, preventive health care and primary health care, especially maternal and child care. The Government undertakes to allocate at least 50 per cent of public health expenditure to preventive care and undertakes to cut the 1995 infant and maternal mortality rate in half by the year 2000. In addition, the Government undertakes to maintain the certification of eradication of poliomyelitis, and to eradicate measles by the year 2000;

Page 13-14, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, B. Health
23. The Parties agree on the need to promote a reform of the national health sector. This reform should be aimed at ensuring effective exercise of the fundamental right to health, without any discrimination whatsoever, and the effective performance by the State, which would be provided with the necessary resources, of its obligation with regard to health and social welfare. Some of the main points of this reform are as follows:
... Social participation
(g) The system would encourage active participation of municipalities, communities and social organizations (including groups of women, indigenous people, trade unions and civic and humanitarian associations) in the planning, execution and monitoring of the administration of health services and programmes,

Page 14, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, C. Social security
24. Social security is a mechanism for expressing human solidarity and promoting the common good, laying the foundations for stability, economic development, national unity and peace. Under the Political Constitution of the Republic, the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, an autonomous body, administers the social security system. The Parties consider that appropriate measures should be taken to expand its coverage and increase its benefits and the quality and efficiency of its services. To that end, the following should be taken into account:
... (b) Under the International Labour Organization convention ratified by Guatemala, social security should include programmes for medical care and benefits in the areas of sickness, maternity, disability, old age, survival, job-related accidents and illnesses, employment and family welfare;

Page 16, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, E. Work
26. Work is essential for the integral development of the individual, the wellbeing of the family and the social and economic development of Guatemala. Labour relations are an essential element of social participation in socioeconomic development and of economic efficiency. In this respect, the State’s policy with regard to work is critical for a strategy of growth with social justice. In order to carry out this policy, the Government undertakes to:
... Protective labour legislation
(d) Decentralize and expand labour inspection services, strengthening the capacity to monitor compliance with the labour norms of domestic law and those derived from the international labour agreements ratified by Guatemala, paying particular attention to monitoring compliance with the labour rights of women, migrant and temporary agricultural workers, household workers, minors, the elderly, the disabled and other workers who are in a more vulnerable and
unprotected situation;

Page 13-14, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, B. Health
23. The Parties agree on the need to promote a reform of the national health sector. This reform should be aimed at ensuring effective exercise of the fundamental right to health, without any discrimination whatsoever, and the effective performance by the State, which would be provided with the necessary resources, of its obligation with regard to health and social welfare. Some of the main points of this reform are as follows:
... Social participation
(g) The system would encourage active participation of municipalities, communities and social organizations (including groups of women, indigenous people, trade unions and civic and humanitarian associations) in the planning, execution and monitoring of the administration of health services and programmes, through local health systems and urban and rural development councils;

Page 19, Annex, III. AGRARIAN SITUATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, A. Participation
33. The capacity of all actors involved in the agricultural sector must be mobilized to make proposals and to take action, including indigenous peoples’ organizations, producers’ associations, business associations, rural workers’ trade unions, rural and women’s organizations or universities and research centres in Guatemala. To that end, in addition to the provisions of other chapters of this Agreement, the Government undertakes to:
(a) Strengthen the capacity of rural organizations such as associative rural enterprises, cooperatives, small farmers’ associations, mixed enterprises and self-managed and family businesses to participate fully in decisions on all matters concerning them and to establish or strengthen State institutions, especially those of the State agricultural sector, involved in rural development so that they can promote such participation, particularly the full participation of women in the decision-making process. That will strengthen the effectiveness of State action and ensure that it responds to the needs of rural areas. In particular, participation in development councils will be promoted as a framework for the joint formulation of development and land use plans;
(b) Strengthen and expand the participation of tenant farmers’ organizations, rural women, indigenous organizations, cooperatives, producers’ trade unions and non-governmental organizations in the National Agricultural Development Council as the main mechanism for consultation, coordination and social participation in the decision-making process for rural development, and in particular for the implementation of this chapter.

Women, girls and gender

Participation

Effective participation

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development
11. The active participation of women is essential for Guatemala’s economic and social development, and the State has a duty to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
12. Recognizing women’s undervalued contributions in all spheres of economic and social activity, and particularly their efforts towards community improvement, the Parties agree that there is a need to strengthen women’s participation in economic and social development on equal terms.

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development, Organization and participation, 13
...
(f) Guaranteeing women’s right to organize and their participation, on the same terms as men, at the senior decision-making levels of local, regional and national institutions;
(g) Promoting women’s participation in public administration, especially in the formulation, execution and supervision of government plans and policies;

Page 6-8, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, B. Health, Social participation, 23
...
(g) The system would encourage active participation of municipalities, communities and social organizations (including groups of women, indigenous people, trade unions and civic and humanitarian associations) in the planning, execution and monitoring of the administration of health services and programmes,

Page 14, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, B. Health
...
Social participation
...
(g) The system would encourage active participation of municipalities, communities and social organizations (including groups of women, indigenous people, trade unions and civic and humanitarian associations) in the planning, execution and monitoring of the administration of health services and programmes, through local health systems and urban and rural development councils;

Page 14, Annex, III. AGRARIAN SITUATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, A. Participation
33. The capacity of all actors involved in the agricultural sector must be mobilized to make proposals and to take action, including indigenous peoples’ organizations, producers’ associations, business associations, rural workers’ trade unions, rural and women’s organizations or universities and research centres in Guatemala. To that end, in addition to the provisions of other chapters of this Agreement, the Government undertakes to:
(a) Strengthen the capacity of rural organizations such as associative rural enterprises, cooperatives, small farmers’ associations, mixed enterprises and self-managed and family businesses to participate fully in decisions on all matters concerning them and to establish or strengthen State institutions, especially those of the State agricultural sector, involved in rural development so that they can promote such participation, particularly the full participation of women in the decision-making process. That will strengthen the effectiveness of State action and ensure that it responds to the needs of rural areas. In particular, participation in development councils will be promoted as a framework for the joint formulation of development and land use plans;
(b) Strengthen and expand the participation of tenant farmers’ organizations, rural women, indigenous organizations, cooperatives, producers’ trade unions and non-governmental organizations in the National Agricultural Development Council as the main mechanism for consultation, coordination and social participation in the decision-making process for rural development, and in particular for the implementation of this chapter.

Equality

Equality (general)

Page 6, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development: 11. The active participation of women is essential for Guatemala’s economic and social development, and the State has a duty to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

Page 7, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development: 13. To this end, the Government undertakes to take the specific economic and social situation of women into account in its development strategies, plans and programmes, and to train civil servants in analysis and planning based on this approach. This undertaking includes the following:
(a) Recognizing the equal rights of women and men in the home, in the workplace, in the production sector and in social and political life, and ensuring that women have the same opportunities as men, particularly with regard to access to credit, land ownership and other productive and technological resources;
...(h): Revising national legislation and regulations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in terms of economic, social, cultural and political participation, and to give effect to the government commitments deriving from the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Page 8, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, A. Education and training, 21: Education and training have a fundamental role in the country’s economic, cultural, social and political development. They are central to the strategy of equity and national unity, and vital for economic modernization and international competitiveness. Reform of the educational system and of its administration is therefore necessary, as is the implementation of coherent and forceful State policies in the field of education, in order to achieve the
following objectives:
...(b) To avoid the perpetuation of poverty and of social, ethnic, sexual and geographical forms of discrimination, particularly those which arise from the divide between urban and rural society;

Social equality

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development,
12. Recognizing women’s undervalued contributions in all spheres of economic and social activity, and particularly their efforts towards community improvement, the Parties agree that there is a need to strengthen women’s participation in economic and social development on equal terms.
...
13
(a) Recognizing the equal rights of women and men in the home, in the workplace, in the production sector and in social and political life, and ensuring that women have the same opportunities as men, particularly with regard to access to credit, land ownership and other productive and technological resources;
...
Housing
(c) Ensuring that women have equal access to housing of their own by eliminating the obstacles and impediments that affect women in relation to rental property, credit and construction;
...
Labour
(e) Guaranteeing women’s right to work, which requires:
(i) Using various means to encourage vocational training for women;
(ii) Revising labour legislation to guarantee equality of rights and opportunities between men and women;
(iii) In rural areas, recognizing women as agricultural workers to ensure that their work is valued and remunerated;
(iv) Enacting laws to protect the rights of women who work as household employees, especially in relation to fair wages, working hours, social security and respect for their dignity;

Page 6-8, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, C. Social security, 24
...
(b) Under the International Labour Organization convention ratified by Guatemala, social security should include programmes for medical care and benefits in the areas of sickness, maternity, disability, old age, survival, job-related accidents and illnesses, employment and family welfare;

Page 6-8, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, E. Work, Protective labour legislation
...
(d) Decentralize and expand labour inspection services, strengthening the capacity to monitor compliance with the labour norms of domestic law and those derived from the international labour agreements ratified by Guatemala, paying particular attention to monitoring compliance with the labour rights of women, migrant and temporary agricultural workers, household workers, minors, the elderly, the disabled and other workers who are in a more vulnerable and unprotected situation;

Particular groups of women

Pregnancy/maternity

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development
B. Health Priority care 23.d. The system would give priority to efforts to fight malnutrition and to promote environmental sanitation, preventive health care and primary health care, especially maternal and child care. The Government undertakes to allocate at least 50 per cent of public health expenditure to preventive care and undertakes to cut the 1995 infant and maternal mortality rate in half by the year 2000. In addition, the Government undertakes to maintain the certification of eradication of poliomyelitis, and to eradicate measles by the year 2000;

… C. Social security 24.b. Under the International Labour Organization convention ratified by Guatemala, social security should include programmes for medical care and benefits in the areas of sickness, maternity, disability, old age, survival, job-related accidents and illnesses, employment and family welfare;

International law

International human rights standards

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development, Legislation, 13
...
(h) Revising national legislation and regulations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women in terms of economic, social, cultural and political participation, and to give effect to the government commitments deriving from the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Page 6-8, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, C. Social security, 24
...
(b) Under the International Labour Organization convention ratified by Guatemala, social security should include programmes for medical care and benefits in the areas of sickness, maternity, disability, old age, survival, job-related accidents and illnesses, employment and family welfare;

New institutions

Infrastructure (general)

Page 14, Annex, III. AGRARIAN SITUATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, A. Participation
33. The capacity of all actors involved in the agricultural sector must be mobilized to make proposals and to take action, including indigenous peoples’ organizations, producers’ associations, business associations, rural workers’ trade unions, rural and women’s organizations or universities and research centres in Guatemala...

Page 14, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, B. Health, 23: The Parties agree on the need to promote a reform of the national health sector. This reform should be aimed at ensuring effective exercise of the fundamental right to health, without any discrimination whatsoever, and the effective performance by the State, which would be provided with the necessary resources, of its obligation with regard to health and social welfare. Some of the main points of this reform are as follows:
...
Social participation
...
(g) The system would encourage active participation of municipalities, communities and social organizations (including groups of women, indigenous people, trade unions and civic and humanitarian associations) in the planning, execution and monitoring of the administration of health services and programmes, through local health systems and urban and rural development councils;

Violence against women

No specific mention.

Transitional justice

No specific mention.

Institutional reform

Public administration

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development
13. To this end, the Government undertakes to take the specific economic and social situation of women into account in its development strategies, plans and programmes, and to train civil servants in analysis and planning based on this approach. This undertaking includes the following:

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development, Organization and participation, 13
...
(g) Promoting women’s participation in public administration, especially in the formulation, execution and supervision of government plans and policies;

Development

General

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development
...
13. To this end, the Government undertakes to take the specific economic and social situation of women into account in its development strategies, plans and programmes, and to train civil servants in analysis and planning based on this approach.

Page 6-8, Annex, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, C. Social security,
24 ...(b) Under the International Labour Organization convention ratified by Guatemala, social security should include programmes for medical care and benefits in the areas of sickness, maternity, disability, old age, survival, job-related accidents and illnesses, employment and family welfare;

Page 14, Annex, III. AGRARIAN SITUATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, A. Participation, 33:
The capacity of all actors involved in the agricultural sector must be mobilized to make proposals and to take action, including indigenous peoples’ organizations, producers’ associations, business associations, rural workers’ trade unions, rural and women’s organizations or universities and research centres in Guatemala. To that end, in addition to the provisions of other chapters of this Agreement, the Government undertakes to:
(a) Strengthen the capacity of rural organizations such as associative rural enterprises, cooperatives, small farmers’ associations, mixed enterprises and self-managed and family businesses to participate fully in decisions on all matters concerning them and to establish or strengthen State institutions, especially those of the State agricultural sector, involved in rural development so that they can promote such participation, particularly the full participation of women in the decision-making process. That will strengthen the effectiveness of State action and ensure that it responds to the needs of rural areas. In particular, participation in development councils will be promoted as a framework for the joint formulation of development and land use plans;
(b) Strengthen and expand the participation of tenant farmers’ organizations, rural women, indigenous organizations, cooperatives, producers’ trade unions and non-governmental organizations in the National Agricultural Development Council as the main mechanism for consultation, coordination and social participation in the decision-making process for rural development, and in particular for the implementation of this chapter.

Education

Page 6-8, Annex, I DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT, B. Participation of women in economic and social development, Education and training,
...
13. To this end, the Government undertakes to take the specific economic and social situation of women into account in its development strategies, plans and programmes, and to train civil servants in analysis and planning based on this approach. This undertaking includes the following:
...
(b) Ensuring that women have equal opportunities for education and training in the same conditions as men, and that any form of discrimination against women that may be found in school curricula is eliminated;
...
Labour
(e) Guaranteeing women’s right to work, which requires:
(i) Using various means to encourage vocational training for women;

Health (general)

Page 7, I. DEMOCRATIZATION AND PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT,
B. Participation of women in economic and social development,
Health,
(d) Implementing nationwide comprehensive health programmes for women, which involves giving women access to appropriate information, prevention and health care services;

Page 13, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT,
B. Health,
Priority Care,
d. The system would give priority to efforts to fight malnutrition and to promote environmental sanitation, preventive health care and primary health care, especially maternal and child care. The Government undertakes to allocate at least 50 per cent of public health expenditure to preventive care and undertakes to cut the 1995 infant and maternal mortality rate in half by the year 2000. In addition, the Government undertakes to maintain the certification of eradication of poliomyelitis, and to eradicate measles by the year 2000;

Page 14, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT,
B. Health,
Social Participation,
(g) The system would encourage active participation of municipalities, communities and social organizations (including groups of women, indigenous people, trade unions and civic and humanitarian associations) in the planning, execution and monitoring of the administration of health services and programmes,

Page 14, II. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT,
C. Social Security
(b) Under the International Labour Organization convention ratified by Guatemala, social security should include programmes for medical care and benefits in the areas of sickness, maternity, disability, old age, survival, job-related accidents and illnesses, employment and family welfare;

Implementation

No specific mention.

Other

No specific mention.