Guatemala

This report presents the key drivers of migration and highlights the risks faced while in transit in four countries of Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Although there are commonalities in the four countries, such as vulnerability to natural hazards and the level of armed violence, the report highlights and provides some outlook into each country’s specific situation in terms of humanitarian constraints and needs.

As at 29 October 2020, Latin America had reported close to 10.9 million cases of COVID-19 and close to 393,000 deaths. The region accounts for less than one tenth of the world’s population, yet has one third of the recorded deaths from COVID-19. Most schools in the region have remained closed since initial lockdown in March. Only two countries, Nicaragua and Uruguay, have fully reopened schools, while Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia have partially reopened schools. Schools in the remaining 12 countries of Central and Southern America remain closed, the majority through the end of 2020 or early 2021. As at 30 September, approximately 98% of more than 131 million school-aged children in Latin America were not receiving face-to-face education.

Read the report in Spanish

Each year we take stock of our work and put together an annual report – you may have noticed we have published a variety of formats and layouts over the years, very much reflecting our own internal learning and evolution. This year we chose to provide four different perspectives on the global humanitarian situation. Within these pages you will find a comparative analyses of 14 of the major humanitarian situations with respect to the affected populations, people in need and humanitarian access; an analysis of three highly complex and evolving regional crises the sector grappled with over the year; and a spotlight on three severe crises that did not get sufficient attention in 2019. Finally, as the year comes to a close, we have identified a number of risks that may lead to a significant deterioration of particular crises in 2020. We hope you will find these perspectives informative and useful in your planning for 2020.

The Crisis Overview 2016: Humanitarian Trends and Risks for 2017, outlines the countries where needs are greatest, and growing, as we approach the end of 2016.

Based on our weekly Global Emergency Overview (GEO), and four years of data on humanitarian needs across 150 countries, we have identified ten countries where humanitarian needs are likely to be highest in 2017, as well as four that merit attention, as they face a potential spike in needs. We also consider the humanitarian situation in the northern triangle region of Latin America, where the wide-ranging humanitarian impact of pervasive gang violence is chronically underreported.