the report presents a series of statistics and relevant findings on key demographic, social, economic, environmental and regional policies.
From the introduction:
This document is a tool for Central American societies which can be used for monitoring, analysis and constructing knowledge about the advances and letdowns in sustainable human development in the region during the first decade of the century.
Of a total of 5 million people who make up the economically active population (EAP) of Guatemala only a million are covered by social security.
Data from a study by the Association for Research and Social Studies (Asies), indicates there is a high informal sector in the economy which raises several problems.
"First, the State is no longer provides a guarantee of citizens labor rights.
Crime and violence associated with drug trafficking brings with it overwhelming economic costs, estimated at about 8% of GDP.
In this illegal activity, that in the 90's was centered in the Caribbean but has migrated to Central America, cartels move about 300 tons of cocaine to North America, valued at $38 billion.
According to the National Civil Police, between 2008 and 2011 40,000 murders were committed in the country, of which a high percentage are related to drug trafficking.
The majorities of entrepreneurs in Guatemala generate few jobs; they start a business out of necessity and use old technology.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project, dedicated to measuring entrepreneurial activities in the world, described the main features of Guatemalans who start their own businesses.
59% started their business out of necessity, seeking to increase their revenue, about half engage in activities which require a capital of less than $ 1,300 and 59% have no employees.
In the Global Human Development Index 2010, Panama is ranked 54, Costa Rica 62, El Salvador 90, Honduras 106, Nicaragua and Guatemala 115 and 116 respectively.
The Central American countries, like others in Latin America, continue to improve in most variables measuring human development and the HDI Program published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The region places between 56 and 125 in the world in harnessing information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs).
To calculate the placement, three areas were taken into account: Environment, Preparedness and Use. Environment measures the degree to which the country's general atmosphere promotes the development of ICTs, measuring factors such as market infrastructure and regulation.
In Central America, the World Economic Forum places Costa Rica first (32 in the world), Panama (34), Honduras (47), El Salvador (58), Nicaragua (71) and Guatemala (112).
The Global Gender Gap Index scores can be interpreted as the percentage of the gap between women and men that has been closed. The three highest ranking countries have closed a little over 80% of their gender gaps, while the lowest ranking country has closed only a little over 45% of its gender gap. Out of the 128 countries covered in both 2007 and 2008, more than two-thirds have posted gains in overall index scores, indicating that the world in general has made progress towards equality between men and women. Additionally, taking averages across the subindexes for these 128 countries reveals that, globally, progress has been made on narrowing the gaps in educational attainment, political empowerment and economic participation, while the gap in health has widened.