Topic:
Country: Guatemala
Delegate Name: Sarah Zaruba
Inequality of wealth has often been associated with power and status, and it only gets worse during turmoil, natural disasters, epidemics, or wars. Inequalities are not only driven by income, but are determined by other factors – gender, age, origin, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, class, and religion. Significant efforts have been made in order to reduce the discrimination of income; however, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated global income inequality, somewhat reversing the decline of the previous few decades (SDGS). Prior to the pandemic, more than three-fifths of the world’s countries saw increasing household incomes in the bottom forty percent of the population when compared to the national average. The pandemic created major declines in this growth concerning the bottom forty percent that the national average. The UN plans to sustain an income growth of the bottom forty percent of the global population, looking to establish fair opportunity and to generally reduce inequality.
Guatemala recognizes the importance of reaching income equality and has opinions in line with achieving Sustainable Development Goal 10. Guatemala has experienced economic stability, but it still isn’t strong enough to close the income gap with rich countries. In fact, poverty and inequality in the country are persistently high, with indigenous peoples continuing to be particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged (World Bank). The COVID-19 pandemic ended three decades of economic growth in Guatemala, still, the country managed to keep a stable economy with help from the government’s fiscal stimulus with temporary cash transfers in response to the virus. While the pandemic increased the country’s poverty rate from 47% to 52%, the World Bank estimates that this increase would have been two to three times greater had it not been for the government’s response. Guatemala strives to eliminate poverty in troubled areas such as the highlands or villages in homes of reducing inequality concerning income.
The Republic of Guatemala highly encourages a balance among income ensuring an improved economy and nation. While Guatemala supports Goal 10 of SDGs, the fight against inequality must be rooted in the context of the country, political realities, and economic imperatives.
