Guatemala National Civil Police Education Training System improvement for public safety (2014 -2017/ $3,980,000) As of 2015, Guatemala’s homicide rate was 29.5 people out of 100,000 in population, which is the fourth highest in the world excluding countries in state of war. Since 2012, the government promoted reinforcement of public safety as its core commitment by increasing the scale of police force, but it has shown insignificant outcomes in reduction of crime rate. Despite frequent murders (13 people murdered on average every day in 2016), the limited resources of investigative agencies resulted in just 3% of criminal arrest. Due to the improvement of the Guatemalan police education system, KOICA will not only construct a new scientific investigation education center within the National Civil Police Training Institute, but also teach advanced scientific investigation techniques in collaboration with the Korean National Police Agency. Also, by conducting professional education tailored to changing public safety environment, the project enhances the competency of Guatemalan police force.
Promoting and developing capacity for integrated agro-forestry systems addressing climate change in Guatemala (2018 - 2021/ $7,000,000)
Guatemala is one of the ten countries in the world with the greatest vulnerability to climate change. Despite the great need for preserving forest to prevent soil erosion and secure water resources, the country experiences severe destruction of forests due to residents' thoughtless deforestation and unscientific afforestation activities. The Guatemalan government enacted the Forest Protection Act in 2015 in an attempt to actively support forest preservation and afforestation activities by its people, but due to the lack of government's capabilities, the budget usage has been poor which led to budget reduction allocated for its efforts; while small-income farmers who account for the majority of the Guatemalans face difficulties in maintaining their lives because of reduced yields caused by climate change. Through its climate change response capability reinforcement project in 3 regions in central and northern Guatemala, which include Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, and Peten, KOICA contributes to strengthening policy capabilities of government officials in the agriculture and forestry areas, restoring landscape in mountain villages through afforestation and agroforestry, establishing a value chain, and pioneering sales routes for produced crops, thus contributing to the nation's competency in responding to climate change.
11
