El Salvador
El Salvador with its 5.7 million inhabitants (in addition over 2 million residing abroad) is a middle income country with profound inequalities in distribution of wealth (GINI: 0.52) and persisting profound levels of poverty. The food and nutritional security situation is of concern with an estimated 16.3 percent of rural families not having sufficient earnings to cover the costs of the basic food basket.
El Salvador is also extremely prone to natural disasters. It ranks among the ten most vulnerable countries to natural hazards in the world (CRED/OFDA), and is rated first by the World Bank (WB) in terms of overall vulnerability based on Economic Risk to GDP from two or more natural hazards (WB, 2005). Nearly 90 percent of total country area is at risk of disaster. In the past eight years, the country suffered three major disasters which impacted thousands and severely hampered economic progress. Two major earthquakes in 2001 affected 1.5 million people with economic losses of US$ 1.6 billions. In 2005, the country was simultaneously affected by the eruption of the Ilamatepec Volcano and tropical storm Stan; the total economic impact of the two phenomena was US$355.6 million. The combination of poverty, under-nutrition, natural disasters and new challenges in light of the food price crisis, are the main reasons for WFP's continued support and assistance to El Salvador.
Situated on the Pacific coast of Central America, El Salvador borders Guatemala to the west and Honduras to the north and east and the Pacific Ocean along its southern coast. San Salvador is the capital city and has a population of 1.5 million, Santa Ana and San Miguel are second and third largest cities. The land boundaries are 545 km and a 307 km coastline and a territorial sea of 200 nautical miles. Elevation ranges from 0 meters Sea Level to 2,730 meters, Cerro Pital. Two parallel mountain ranges running east to west divide country into two regions: mountains and central plateau, and coastal plains (Pacific lowlands). The southern mountain range is made-up of more than twenty volcanoes. There are also numerous volcanic lakes in the interior highlands. Natural resources include hydropower, geothermal power and arable land.
Brief description of the Logistics In-country Infrastructure.
El Salvador's sophisticated logistics infrastructure has placed it as leader in the region with modern port, container handling facilities and an ever improving road network; all fueled by the large textile industry and free-trade zones in country. WFP works closely with the Government and WFP commodities are stored at three Govt managed warehouses; (Zapotitan Central Zone, Santa Ana Western Zone and San Miguel Eastern Zone) with a total storage capacity of 30,000 mt. The main maritime port of Acajutla on the pacific coast is served by the major shipping lines and has modern container, bulk and break-bulk facilities. The majority of WFP cargo, however, is received via the Caribbean Corridors through the Ports of Santo Tomas in Guatemala and Cortes in Honduras.
Description, size and types of Logistics operations provided to the Country Office for WFP and other humanitarian actors/partners.
1. The Central American Regional Humanitarian Response Centre (RHRC):
The RHRC is part of the regional emergency response network in the Latin America and Caribbean (LACERN), which allows WFP to deliver food aid immediately and cost-effectively by strengthening its own capacity at regional and country level; and to support the establishment of an integrated regional emergency preparedness and response (EPR) network for participating partner governments, United Nations agencies and NGOs. The establishment of the RHRC, in 2007, follows the signature of a Cooperation Agreement between WFP and the Government of El Salvador. It serves today as a logistics base for emergency response activities in the CA region and functions as a rapid response facility, open to regional and local inter-agency and NGO partners which can operate within the first 24-48 hours of a disaster affecting Central America. The Centre is strategically located at the International Airport in Comalapa with direct access to the loading ramp, main runway and modern cargo handling facilities. Over the last two years, the RHRC attended major emergencies in Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Haiti, Panama and El Salvador.
2. Trust Fund Operations:
With the finalization of WFP Country Programme in December 2007, School Feeding activities have been entirely institutionalized under governmental responsibility as part of the Healthy School initiative of the Ministry of Education. This institutionalization is a major success for WFP. However, the Government of El Salvador and WFP signed a Trust Fund agreement whereby WFP provides procurement, logistics and capacity development services to the National School Feeding Programme in favour of over 875,000 school children, principal activities include;
- Food Procurement Services, averaging 10,000 mt p/year and logistics activities including import/ port operations and transport contracting and distribution services.
- Technical assistance in key areas such programme design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and local level capacity building in order to ensure higher programmatic standards across the country and thus a greater impact;
Since its official launch in February 2008, WFP management of the national trust fund has not only generated 3,261,420 USD in savings, which have been reinvested in technical assistance and food purchases, but has contributed to a significant increase in the programme's budget from $10 to US$ 17 million.
3. The Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO):
This regional operation aims at strengthening the capacity of vulnerable populations to respond recurrent natural disasters. The relief component provides rolling stocks and allows for a timely and adequate response to immediate food needs of temporarily displaced and other disaster affected populations. A recovery component, including food for asset and training activities help mitigate the negative effects of disasters. These activities, jointly executed with NGOs partners, prioritize the rehabilitation of damage to small-scale subsistence agriculture sector; such as reforestation and agricultural diversification projects or the construction of small dams, barriers, canals, wells and other disaster mitigation related assets. Finally, targeted supplementary feeding interventions also contribute to prevent a deterioration of malnutrition rates during and shortly after natural disasters. In light of the high food prices crisis, the PRRO is being re-oriented to also respond to the economic shock impacting large part of the poorest population. In particular, in addition to the above components, the operation enhances its targeted supplementary feeding activities in support to an additional 120,000 beneficiaries, especially children under 5, lactating mothers and pregnant women, identified by the Ministry of Health among the most vulnerable and affected by the economic shock.
4. WFP El Salvador, the leading agency of the UN Country Team for Emergency Preparedness and Response, known as UNETE.
The UNETE team has been extremely productive over the course of the last years in enhancing standards, systems and procedures of the UN, and in strengthening collaboration with Government. Among the main outputs, the following can be mentioned:
- Preparedness and Response protocols for the UN system;
- UN Contingency Plan for the hurricane season and the avian flu;
- Information tools to improve coordination with international and bilateral cooperation agencies;
- Coordination and collaboration mechanisms with the Ministry of the Interior and the Civil Protection;
- Manual and protocols on emergency shelter management; (developed, published and trainings performed);
- Strengthening the capacities of the National Civil Protection System in emergency preparedness and response, including standardized Damages and Needs Assessments, protocols and information date base on infrastructure, and trainings on gender violence prevention in emergency situations.
- At the regional level, the WFP CO has the mandate to foster the enhancement of capacities and systems in risk management and humanitarian response across Central America and to provide direct assistance in disasters situations.
5. The Early Warning System for Central America, known as SATCAweb
SATCA uses state of the art technology to provide precise, timely and real-time information regarding on-going and forecasted natural hazards in the region, which contributes to enhancing preparedness, response and mitigation action among partners in the region. Through its web based platform (www.SATCAweb.org), the system provides real time multi-hazard monitoring (drought, floods, hurricanes, earthquake and volcanic eruptions) and seeks to standardize information management processes and procedures. Developed in collaboration with regional institutions (The Central America Centre for Disaster Prevention and the CA Integration System) the SATCA project, now entering its second phase of development, builds on the collaboration of a variety of national, regional and global institutions. Among its aims is also fostering the capacity development of national institutions in the region, including National Service for Territorial Studies and Civil Protection, including by encouraging South- South collaboration and by facilitating exchanges of knowledge and technology among scientific institutions in Central America.
