Has someone from Buckingham being writing letters about Guatemala to their Conservative MP John Bercow? It's great to see his interest in Guatemala. He recently asked two questions in as many days in the House of Commons about the current situation in Guatemala with regards death squads and after hurricane Stan in October 2005.

Here is part of Gareth Thomas's (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development) response on the situation in Guatemala after Stan.

A key reconstruction priority was ensuring access to safe reliable water, and much of the rehabilitation effort has focused on this. Waterborne disease remains a risk for affected communities and the Ministry of Health have been supported in the provision of transportation services, basic health kits including mosquito nets, and training for communities in health and nutrition awareness. Overall progress in reconstructing sanitation units has been slow, which in many cases has only reached 10 per cent. of target so far. However, some areas have benefited from intensive NGO efforts to ensure safe water, with as many as 10,000 water filters being provided and treatment plants in three municipalities. The installation of systems has been undertaken in close conjunction with local government authorities and communities to ensure sustainability.

Children have been badly affected by the hurricane the most, and those who remain in shelters will continue to receive psychological and educational support from rehabilitation partners. A continuing concern is the restoration of the livelihoods of the communities affected, either through agricultural support to those who returned to their homes, or through income generation opportunities for those who remain in shelters or have been relocated. DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have been in discussions with the Guatemalan Government to assess how those worst affected by Stan can begin to rehabilitate their livelihoods."

The House of Commons debated the issue of violence against women yesterday (09-03-06). The debate coincided with International Women's Day. David Taylor, Labour MP for North West Leicestershire rose the issue of the violence against women in Guatemala. He called on the UK Minsters to work on improving links with their counterparts in Guatemala to help improve the current situation.

Special thanks to Megan Anderson, Sophie Barker, Gemma Haywood and James Grant of Ibstock community college for writing to their MP and raising this issue. Solidarity in action!

Here is the full text of David Taylor's contribution to the debate:

"I am grateful to be called today and, in the light of the large number of hon. Members here, I shall try to keep my remarks very brief indeed.

The Minister referred to the co-operation between our Government and European and worldwide Governments. I should like to bring to the Chamber's attention the position in Guatemala, which is a particularly appalling case in terms of the treatment of women. I pay tribute to Megan Anderson, Sophie Barker, Gemma Haywood and James Grant of Ibstock community college in my constituency, who recently wrote to alert me to the appalling crimes that are being committed in that country.

I contacted the two Ministers in the Department for International Development earlier this year, asking what was being done to help the Guatemalan authorities to reduce the incidence of violent crime against Guatemalan women. To put the matter into context, 1,000 Guatemalan women have been murdered in the past two years. That is in a country of about 13 million people—a fifth of the size of this country. One could only imagine the impact of such appalling atrocities if 5,000 women were killed over a two-year period in this country. The Under-Secretary of State for International Development reassured me about the contacts that had been made with the Guatemalan presidential commission on human rights and the fact that our country, I am pleased to say, provides 18 per cent. of the funding for European Community programmes to Guatemala in that respect.

The second question that I raised was with the Minister for Europe, asking what contacts he had had with his Guatemalan counterpart about the status and treatment of Guatemalan women. Although that had not been discussed in any detail, on 7 October 2005, officials from the British embassy in Guatemala met a representative from the Guatemalan human rights prosecutors office to discuss the serious rise in violent acts against women in that country. A representative from Guatemala's network for the prevention of violence against women was also present.

I was relieved to hear the Minister talk about the European and international links that have been established by our Government, because the position in Guatemala is extraordinarily depressing and tragic. Many women and girls in Guatemala live with gender-based violence. Violence against women in the family, rape and sexual harassment in the workplace are common, and women and young girls are the victims of commercial trafficking and, as we have heard from two speakers, sexual exploitation. Most appallingly of all, police officers have been implicated in cases of sexual violence in that country. A number of victims of the killings—I have given an indication of the scale—were under 18 years of age.

The United Nations special rapporteur on violence looked into this dreadful example of a country allowing violence against women, and he found that the Guatemalan Government were failing in their international obligation to prevent, investigate and prosecute violence against women. Last year, a special police unit was established to investigate and prevent crimes against women, but it was reportedly insufficiently resourced to deal with the scale of the problem.

It is not all bleak in Guatemala: more women there go out to work than have ever done so before, and they stay in education for longer and express themselves more freely than ever before. However, in much of the country their reward is the perpetual fear of violent, sudden death. Prostitutes and female gang members are at the most serious risk, but the death toll includes women from all walks of life.

Let me conclude with a reference to Amnesty International that links with the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Chris McCafferty). Independent assessors have established the reasons for the dreadful position in Guatemala, where three and a half decades of internal conflict have produced cheap guns and a culture of violence, which has worsened the position. First, there is no respect for the body; people feel that they can treat women however they like—that is almost a cultural expectation. Secondly and finally, there is the idea that women are somebody's property. Those values need to be challenged. In a recent report, Amnesty International called on the Guatemalan Government to improve public education, inject real urgency into criminal investigations and reform outdated laws on rape and sexual violence.

Yesterday was international women's day, and I am delighted with the achievements of our Government. I come from a female-dominated household, with four daughters and lots of sisters and sisters-in-law, so I feel that I have the privilege of being able to contribute to the debate on their behalf. Our Government's natural focus and priority has been within the United Kingdom, but they will reach out to other countries. I urge both Ministers present to see what they can do to establish links with, and improve the appalling position of, women in Guatemala."

You can read the speech in the context of the debate here.