Womens International Network For Guatemalan Solutions Inc

Mission

 WINGS creates opportunities for Guatemalan families to improve their lives by providing them with family planning education and access to reproductive health services.

Programs

Family Planning

In Guatemala, large families place a strain on household resources, making it difficult for parents to provide adequate education, nutrition and health for children.  In turn, these situations negatively affect the country as a whole, contributing to poverty, slowed economic development, low literacy rates, high fertility rates, and increased pressure on Guatemala’s public services.  WINGS’ Family Planning program aims to counter these problems at a foundational level – by educating about family planning and giving access to contraceptives and other tools so that Guatemalans are armed with the ability to positively change their own futures.

Cervical Cancer Detection & Treatment 

Cervical cancer is a highly preventable disease when access to screening and treatment are available.   Unfortunately, it remains a major threat to women in the developing world due to inadequate public health service provision and the high prevalence of risk factors, including early initiation of sexual activity, high fertility rates, and lack of screening services.  With a focus on serving Guatemalan women disproportionately impacted by cervical cancer—the poor, rural and indigenous—the WINGS Cervical Cancer Program provides health education, life-saving screening services, as well as follow-up treatment when necessary.

Youth WINGS

By harnessing the enthusiasm and energy of adolescents and capitalizing on the strong influence young people have on each other, Youth WINGS trains adolescents, ages 14-19, to provide their peers with information on sexual and reproductive health as well as referrals to family planning services when requested.  In 2011, Youth WINGS began a street theater project, targeting youth that are not currently attending school. The program also places emphasis on collaborating with local schools and Guatemala’s Ministry of Education to educate teachers, administrators and other officials on how to deliver accurate and comprehensive sex education in schools.

WINGS for Men 

Initiated in 2007 and the first of its kind in Guatemala, the WINGS for Men Program aims to ensure that men in Guatemala are participating actively and positively in their sexual and reproductive health.  To achieve this goal, the Program utilizes a multi-component approach that provides education and referrals for services in a manner that protects the reproductive health of both men and women and that encourages greater sensitivity to gender issues.

Advocacy

WINGS’ Advocacy program focuses on a three-year initiative in which WINGS’ staff will teach advocacy skills to women’s groups throughout Guatemala, enabling them to lead their communities in demanding that their rights to sexual and reproductive health are upheld by the government.  In addition to its current initiative, the program also campaigned for the implementation of Guatemala’s Law on Universal and Equitable Access to Family Planning Services (Decree 87-2005), a law passed in 2005 which guarantees the provision of sex education to youth in schools and access to free family planning methods for all Guatemalans.