This report is part of a collaborative multi-year program of analytical work and technical assistance (the Guatemala Poverty Assessment Program, or "GUAPA" program). The poverty assessment report itself has three main objectives. The first is to conduct an in-depth, multi-dimensional analysis of poverty building on the framework of the World Bank's World Development Report (WDR) for 2000/2001 using both quantitative and qualitative data.
 
The second is to examine the impact of government policies and spending on the poor. The third is to use the empirical findings to identify options and priorities for poverty reduction in the future. Policy options are outlined not only in general, but for the specific themes and sectors covered. It is hoped that the report will make an empirical contribution to improving the Government's anti-poverty policies and strategies (broadly as well as for specific sectors). The report is also expected to contribute to the definition of the country assistance strategy (CAS) and lending operations of the World Bank and other donors, so as to make these interventions more effective in the future. This type of study is conducted by the World Bank in its client countries on a regular basis with the objective of assessing the poverty situation of the country in question.

Analytical Framework The GUAPA embraces the conceptual framework developed in the World Development Report (WDR) 2000/2001 that stresses the multi-dimensionality of poverty. Poverty is associated with (a) a low level and productivity of assets, which constrain opportunities; (b) exclusion from institutional, social and political spheres; and (c) vulnerability to risks and shocks. Reducing poverty requires concerted efforts on all of these inter-connected dimensions: expanding the opportunities of the poor, empowering them, and improving the security of their well-being. 

Data An innovative aspect of the GUAPA is its combination of qualitative and quantitative data sources, which are both valuable in their own right but yield important synergies when used together. The primary source of quantitative information is the Living Standards Measurement Survey (Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida, ENCOVI 2000), which was conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística – Guatemala (INE) under the auspices of the MECOVI Program. The "Program for the Improvement of Surveys and Measurement of Living Conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean" (MECOVI), is sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank (IBRD) under the GUAPA program, and the Economic Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) with additional funding from a number of other donors, including USAID, the Soros Foundation, UNDP, UNICEF, and the ILO. The study also draws on the results of a Qualitative Poverty and Exclusion Study (QPES) covering 10 rural villages of different ethnicities that were also included in the ENCOVI sample. The QPES was designed to complement the ENCOVI with in-depth information of perceptions of poverty, vulnerability, social capital, education, public services, and gender roles. 
 
Collaborative Approach. The approach embraced by the GUAPA/MECOVI program is as important as this report itself. It is based on a highly collaborative process between the Government, the World Bank, and other donors In particular, the IDB, UNDP, USAID, UNICEF, the Soros Foundation and the ILO. designed to build local capacity for, and ownership of, the analysis of poverty. The process involved continuous cooperation, technical assistance and training with three main counterpart agencies: INE, the planning secretariat (SEGEPLAN), and the University of Rafael Landívar (URL). The process has already generated several outputs, including the ENCOVI and its database; a new and improved Poverty Map designed to serve as a policy tool for targeting public spending and interventions (constructed by the SEGEPLAN-INE-URL technical team with World Bank technical support); the training and capacity building of numerous staff in these agencies; and technical support to the Government's poverty reduction strategy (PRSP).