Guatemalan Youth Turn Budgets into Hope
Together with Guatemala’s Ministry of Finance, we planted values in more than a thousand students during Fiscal Culture Week to harvest a better future.
Some weeks leave a mark. And Fiscal Culture Week 2025, held from September 22 to 26 at the Ministry of Public Finance (MINFIN), was one of them.
It was an experience that ignited curiosity, commitment, and a sense of citizenship in more than 1,100 young Guatemalans who dared to take a close look at how taxes build the future. Because yes: behind every road, school, hospital, or park, there are public decisions born from tax collection. And understanding this is the first step toward strengthening trust between the State and its citizens.
A Mission that Awakens Awareness: Transparency Mission Guatemala
With the motto “The path begins with you,” Fiscal Culture Week became an educational journey. Students from 27 schools — from the capital city and Quiché — navigated an interactive and inclusive maze that led them to discover how every tax has a purpose: to improve lives.
During their visit, the young participants took part in training sessions on the Citizen Budget and Fiscal Culture, expressed their thoughts on the “Express Yourself” wall, explored four thematic stands with technological and educational activities, and concluded with a visit to the Steel Engraving Museum.
Amid laughter, learning, and games, each student left with the conviction that taxes are more than numbers. They are tools to transform their surroundings.
“Transparency begins with oneself”
Taxes become more schools, more roads, more hospitals. They are opportunities to build a fairer country. And young people have a fundamental role: to be the guardians of transparency to ensure that these resources benefit everyone.
The inauguration was also led by Carlos Augusto Melgar, Vice Minister for Fiscal Transparency at MINFIN.
For years, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through German Development Cooperation (GIZ), has supported Guatemala in this effort. It does so through the Good Financial Governance Program, which promotes fiscal transparency, tax culture, and citizen participation across the region.
Because when citizens understand how public resources are used, a stronger relationship between the State and society emerges. And that trust is the foundation of all sustainable development. The more fiscal education there is, the stronger the economy, the more transparent the State, and the more trustworthy the country becomes for investment.
Written by Teresa Margarita Bojórquez, GIZ.