Plan El Salvador Annual Program Report 2007

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in El Salvador

Real progress

El Salvador is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. Battered in recent years by natural disasters, plagued by high levels of violence and facing almost constant rises in the cost of food and basic services, the country offers little security for children and young people.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in El Salvador are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year, our work included:

Plan is working with communities in some of the poorest areas of El Salvador to build a secure future for children.

Together, we’re creating better health services and schools, connecting families to clean water, improving sanitation and opening doors to employment with loans for small businesses and training in new skills.

148.5mm FRONT

• Protecting children from disease by helping communities to build or improve 74 water catchment tanks, 23 new water systems, We’re sup 16 water system upgrades, 4,585 latrines, porting schoo l vegetable ga children’s nutri rdens to boost tion and help them learn val three sewage systems and three rubbish dumps uable ski

lls

We’re committed to promoting respect for young people and their rights, helping them to play their part in their communities’ progress. As Rossana Viteri, Country Director for Plan El Salvador says: “We are confident that by working with them it is possible to improve the quality of their lives.”

Children’s radio programmes are a grea t way for kids to promote their rights

The project we highlight in this Country Progress Report is just one success among many that Plan has had, working hand in hand with children.

El Salvador country facts Population: 6.9 million Capital: San Salvador

People without adequate sanitation: 38%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 101st (of 177 countries)

Children under five who are underweight: 10%

People living on less than 1 US dollar a day: 19%

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

• Working with 100 educational networks involving parents and schools to improve the quality of learning for children at nursery and primary school levels

• Enabling women to increase their families’ income by offering training in skills like baking and floristry and by offering materials to help them start small businesses

• Helping to keep children safe from violence by promoting local and national campaigns on the effects of violence and the ways in which communities can work together to stop such abuse.

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

SLV

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof: Art (A/D)

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_El Salvador 30.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 4 Client proof: 2 Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

El Salvador

Country Progress Report 2007

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in El Salvador

Real progress

El Salvador is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. Battered in recent years by natural disasters, plagued by high levels of violence and facing almost constant rises in the cost of food and basic services, the country offers little security for children and young people.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in El Salvador are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year, our work included:

Plan is working with communities in some of the poorest areas of El Salvador to build a secure future for children.

Together, we’re creating better health services and schools, connecting families to clean water, improving sanitation and opening doors to employment with loans for small businesses and training in new skills.

148.5mm FRONT

• Protecting children from disease by helping communities to build or improve 74 water catchment tanks, 23 new water systems, We’re sup 16 water system upgrades, 4,585 latrines, porting schoo l vegetable ga children’s nutri rdens to boost tion and help them learn val three sewage systems and three rubbish dumps uable ski

lls

We’re committed to promoting respect for young people and their rights, helping them to play their part in their communities’ progress. As Rossana Viteri, Country Director for Plan El Salvador says: “We are confident that by working with them it is possible to improve the quality of their lives.”

Children’s radio programmes are a grea t way for kids to promote their rights

The project we highlight in this Country Progress Report is just one success among many that Plan has had, working hand in hand with children.

El Salvador country facts Population: 6.9 million Capital: San Salvador

People without adequate sanitation: 38%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 101st (of 177 countries)

Children under five who are underweight: 10%

People living on less than 1 US dollar a day: 19%

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

• Working with 100 educational networks involving parents and schools to improve the quality of learning for children at nursery and primary school levels

• Enabling women to increase their families’ income by offering training in skills like baking and floristry and by offering materials to help them start small businesses

• Helping to keep children safe from violence by promoting local and national campaigns on the effects of violence and the ways in which communities can work together to stop such abuse.

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

SLV

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof: Art (A/D)

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_El Salvador 30.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 4 Client proof: 2 Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

El Salvador

Country Progress Report 2007

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

Prepared for emergency Every day, Maria and her friends would watch the men arrive at the river in their trucks, ready to load them with rocks to sell for construction.

Called Disaster Risk Reduction, the project aims to increase communities’ understanding of how a disaster might affect them and what they can do to reduce the impact of emergency situations on their children.

Every stone they took from the riverbed weakened the banks of the river, and brought her community closer to the possibility of flooding.

The Sumpul river is something of a landmark in Cantón Petapas, the rural community in Chalatenango, northern El Salvador where Maria lives. Dividing El Salvador from neighbouring Honduras, the river is an important local resource surrounded by beautiful, mountainous countryside.

Although stunning, the terrain is also dangerous. Its steep slopes are prone to erosion and landslides. Forest fires are another hazard. Drought is common.

Reducing the risks Maria and the young people in her community are no strangers to the effects of disasters, whether man-made, like taking rocks from the Sumpul river, or natural, like storms and hurricanes.

Large parts of El Salvador were devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Two earthquakes followed three years

homes should another disaster occur.

The committee is part of a wider project launched by Plan and 56 communities across El Salvador following Hurricane Mitch.

The Sumpul is one of the

main rivers of El Salvador

later in 2001. More recently, in 2005, Hurricane Stan left thousands of families homeless.

In communities like Cantón Petapas, where families depend on farming to survive, disasters like Hurricane Stan have the potential to wreak havoc, leaving families without shelter, clean water, schools and the means to provide for their children.

But in Cantón Petapas, local people have formed an emergency committee to help them protect their families and

Children and young people have been involved in the project from the start, an innovative step in a country where children are not often given the chance to express their views, or make a contribution to the development of their communities.

Children and young people have been involved in the project from the start.

Involving young people Cantón Petapas is different however.

The people here understand the role that children can play in keeping the community safe from disasters. After all, they’ve seen them in action.

When Maria and her friends were wondering how to stop the men taking rocks from the Sumpul river, young people across the banks in Honduras

were just as concerned. So, they got together.

“We talked to children from the other side of the river, and organised in groups to talk to each truck driver we saw,” says Maria. “We made them unload the truck to put the stones back in the river.”

Maria is a member of the youth group in Cantón Petapas. It works closely with the emergency committee on preventing and preparing for disasters.

There’s a group like this in each of the communities working with Plan on the Disaster Risk Reduction programme.

With training and support provided by Plan, they’re learning how to identify potential dangers in their local areas and make sure their communities know what to do when an emergency strikes.

“It all started with Plan training, where we learned that we, the children, had rights and one of our rights is to be informed and to participate,” says Aida, 15, another member of the Cantón Petapas youth group. “We talked about the risks in our community and how to prevent them, and the group grew and grew until it became what it is now.”

Stopping the destruction of the Sumpul river has been just one of the group’s successes. Since it began, it has worked

146.5mm INSIDE

with the emergency committee to draw up a map of the places in their locality that would be most vulnerable in a disaster, identifying how to keep them safe. It has found ways to prevent disasters, for example building a retaining wall at the school to stop mudslides. And it has helped to devise early warning systems and emergency The children’s emergency committee in Petapa drills for the whole community, so everyone knows what is expected of chance, they can be very insightful them in a crisis. and creative to find a solution to “Children have valuable ideas and a problem.”

if given the chance, they can be very insightful and creative to find a solution to a problem.”

The project has brought unexpected benefits for the children, and their families. As the young people have worked with Plan and with the adults on the emergency committee, their confidence has grown. “We have learned to relate better with adults, and this has made us feel valued,” says Carmen.

Ramon is the father of one of the young people. He has seen the value of the children’s work, explaining: “Children have valuable ideas and if given the

He believes the children’s experience will transform the community’s future.

“The children who participate today are the trainers of the children of tomorrow,” he says. “They are going to pass on their knowledge and their experience… we did not have that kind of opportunity. If we had, things would be very different nowadays.”

Some names have been changed for privacy and child protection reasons.

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

Prepared for emergency Every day, Maria and her friends would watch the men arrive at the river in their trucks, ready to load them with rocks to sell for construction.

Called Disaster Risk Reduction, the project aims to increase communities’ understanding of how a disaster might affect them and what they can do to reduce the impact of emergency situations on their children.

Every stone they took from the riverbed weakened the banks of the river, and brought her community closer to the possibility of flooding.

The Sumpul river is something of a landmark in Cantón Petapas, the rural community in Chalatenango, northern El Salvador where Maria lives. Dividing El Salvador from neighbouring Honduras, the river is an important local resource surrounded by beautiful, mountainous countryside.

Although stunning, the terrain is also dangerous. Its steep slopes are prone to erosion and landslides. Forest fires are another hazard. Drought is common.

Reducing the risks Maria and the young people in her community are no strangers to the effects of disasters, whether man-made, like taking rocks from the Sumpul river, or natural, like storms and hurricanes.

Large parts of El Salvador were devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Two earthquakes followed three years

homes should another disaster occur.

The committee is part of a wider project launched by Plan and 56 communities across El Salvador following Hurricane Mitch.

The Sumpul is one of the

main rivers of El Salvador

later in 2001. More recently, in 2005, Hurricane Stan left thousands of families homeless.

In communities like Cantón Petapas, where families depend on farming to survive, disasters like Hurricane Stan have the potential to wreak havoc, leaving families without shelter, clean water, schools and the means to provide for their children.

But in Cantón Petapas, local people have formed an emergency committee to help them protect their families and

Children and young people have been involved in the project from the start, an innovative step in a country where children are not often given the chance to express their views, or make a contribution to the development of their communities.

Children and young people have been involved in the project from the start.

Involving young people Cantón Petapas is different however.

The people here understand the role that children can play in keeping the community safe from disasters. After all, they’ve seen them in action.

When Maria and her friends were wondering how to stop the men taking rocks from the Sumpul river, young people across the banks in Honduras

were just as concerned. So, they got together.

“We talked to children from the other side of the river, and organised in groups to talk to each truck driver we saw,” says Maria. “We made them unload the truck to put the stones back in the river.”

Maria is a member of the youth group in Cantón Petapas. It works closely with the emergency committee on preventing and preparing for disasters.

There’s a group like this in each of the communities working with Plan on the Disaster Risk Reduction programme.

With training and support provided by Plan, they’re learning how to identify potential dangers in their local areas and make sure their communities know what to do when an emergency strikes.

“It all started with Plan training, where we learned that we, the children, had rights and one of our rights is to be informed and to participate,” says Aida, 15, another member of the Cantón Petapas youth group. “We talked about the risks in our community and how to prevent them, and the group grew and grew until it became what it is now.”

Stopping the destruction of the Sumpul river has been just one of the group’s successes. Since it began, it has worked

146.5mm INSIDE

with the emergency committee to draw up a map of the places in their locality that would be most vulnerable in a disaster, identifying how to keep them safe. It has found ways to prevent disasters, for example building a retaining wall at the school to stop mudslides. And it has helped to devise early warning systems and emergency The children’s emergency committee in Petapa drills for the whole community, so everyone knows what is expected of chance, they can be very insightful them in a crisis. and creative to find a solution to “Children have valuable ideas and a problem.”

if given the chance, they can be very insightful and creative to find a solution to a problem.”

The project has brought unexpected benefits for the children, and their families. As the young people have worked with Plan and with the adults on the emergency committee, their confidence has grown. “We have learned to relate better with adults, and this has made us feel valued,” says Carmen.

Ramon is the father of one of the young people. He has seen the value of the children’s work, explaining: “Children have valuable ideas and if given the

He believes the children’s experience will transform the community’s future.

“The children who participate today are the trainers of the children of tomorrow,” he says. “They are going to pass on their knowledge and their experience… we did not have that kind of opportunity. If we had, things would be very different nowadays.”

Some names have been changed for privacy and child protection reasons.

148.5mm INSIDE

148.5mm INSIDE

Prepared for emergency Every day, Maria and her friends would watch the men arrive at the river in their trucks, ready to load them with rocks to sell for construction.

Called Disaster Risk Reduction, the project aims to increase communities’ understanding of how a disaster might affect them and what they can do to reduce the impact of emergency situations on their children.

Every stone they took from the riverbed weakened the banks of the river, and brought her community closer to the possibility of flooding.

The Sumpul river is something of a landmark in Cantón Petapas, the rural community in Chalatenango, northern El Salvador where Maria lives. Dividing El Salvador from neighbouring Honduras, the river is an important local resource surrounded by beautiful, mountainous countryside.

Although stunning, the terrain is also dangerous. Its steep slopes are prone to erosion and landslides. Forest fires are another hazard. Drought is common.

Reducing the risks Maria and the young people in her community are no strangers to the effects of disasters, whether man-made, like taking rocks from the Sumpul river, or natural, like storms and hurricanes.

Large parts of El Salvador were devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Two earthquakes followed three years

homes should another disaster occur.

The committee is part of a wider project launched by Plan and 56 communities across El Salvador following Hurricane Mitch.

The Sumpul is one of the

main rivers of El Salvador

later in 2001. More recently, in 2005, Hurricane Stan left thousands of families homeless.

In communities like Cantón Petapas, where families depend on farming to survive, disasters like Hurricane Stan have the potential to wreak havoc, leaving families without shelter, clean water, schools and the means to provide for their children.

But in Cantón Petapas, local people have formed an emergency committee to help them protect their families and

Children and young people have been involved in the project from the start, an innovative step in a country where children are not often given the chance to express their views, or make a contribution to the development of their communities.

Children and young people have been involved in the project from the start.

Involving young people Cantón Petapas is different however.

The people here understand the role that children can play in keeping the community safe from disasters. After all, they’ve seen them in action.

When Maria and her friends were wondering how to stop the men taking rocks from the Sumpul river, young people across the banks in Honduras

were just as concerned. So, they got together.

“We talked to children from the other side of the river, and organised in groups to talk to each truck driver we saw,” says Maria. “We made them unload the truck to put the stones back in the river.”

Maria is a member of the youth group in Cantón Petapas. It works closely with the emergency committee on preventing and preparing for disasters.

There’s a group like this in each of the communities working with Plan on the Disaster Risk Reduction programme.

With training and support provided by Plan, they’re learning how to identify potential dangers in their local areas and make sure their communities know what to do when an emergency strikes.

“It all started with Plan training, where we learned that we, the children, had rights and one of our rights is to be informed and to participate,” says Aida, 15, another member of the Cantón Petapas youth group. “We talked about the risks in our community and how to prevent them, and the group grew and grew until it became what it is now.”

Stopping the destruction of the Sumpul river has been just one of the group’s successes. Since it began, it has worked

146.5mm INSIDE

with the emergency committee to draw up a map of the places in their locality that would be most vulnerable in a disaster, identifying how to keep them safe. It has found ways to prevent disasters, for example building a retaining wall at the school to stop mudslides. And it has helped to devise early warning systems and emergency The children’s emergency committee in Petapa drills for the whole community, so everyone knows what is expected of chance, they can be very insightful them in a crisis. and creative to find a solution to “Children have valuable ideas and a problem.”

if given the chance, they can be very insightful and creative to find a solution to a problem.”

The project has brought unexpected benefits for the children, and their families. As the young people have worked with Plan and with the adults on the emergency committee, their confidence has grown. “We have learned to relate better with adults, and this has made us feel valued,” says Carmen.

Ramon is the father of one of the young people. He has seen the value of the children’s work, explaining: “Children have valuable ideas and if given the

He believes the children’s experience will transform the community’s future.

“The children who participate today are the trainers of the children of tomorrow,” he says. “They are going to pass on their knowledge and their experience… we did not have that kind of opportunity. If we had, things would be very different nowadays.”

Some names have been changed for privacy and child protection reasons.

146.5mm FLAP

148.5mm BACK

Challenge and change in El Salvador

Real progress

El Salvador is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. Battered in recent years by natural disasters, plagued by high levels of violence and facing almost constant rises in the cost of food and basic services, the country offers little security for children and young people.

With the support of Plan, children and adults in El Salvador are working together to develop their communities and claim their right to a better future. And real progress is being made.

Last year, our work included:

Plan is working with communities in some of the poorest areas of El Salvador to build a secure future for children.

Together, we’re creating better health services and schools, connecting families to clean water, improving sanitation and opening doors to employment with loans for small businesses and training in new skills.

148.5mm FRONT

• Protecting children from disease by helping communities to build or improve 74 water catchment tanks, 23 new water systems, We’re sup 16 water system upgrades, 4,585 latrines, porting schoo l vegetable ga children’s nutri rdens to boost tion and help them learn val three sewage systems and three rubbish dumps uable ski

lls

We’re committed to promoting respect for young people and their rights, helping them to play their part in their communities’ progress. As Rossana Viteri, Country Director for Plan El Salvador says: “We are confident that by working with them it is possible to improve the quality of their lives.”

Children’s radio programmes are a grea t way for kids to promote their rights

The project we highlight in this Country Progress Report is just one success among many that Plan has had, working hand in hand with children.

El Salvador country facts Population: 6.9 million Capital: San Salvador

People without adequate sanitation: 38%

UN Human Development Index ranking: 101st (of 177 countries)

Children under five who are underweight: 10%

People living on less than 1 US dollar a day: 19%

(Sources: the UN, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office)

• Working with 100 educational networks involving parents and schools to improve the quality of learning for children at nursery and primary school levels

• Enabling women to increase their families’ income by offering training in skills like baking and floristry and by offering materials to help them start small businesses

• Helping to keep children safe from violence by promoting local and national campaigns on the effects of violence and the ways in which communities can work together to stop such abuse.

Plan’s greatest successes come from a joint effort combining the hard work and determination of communities, children, volunteers, staff, and partner organisations. The ongoing support of our sponsors is a vital ingredient, too. It’s their generosity and commitment that allows us to continue to help children in 49 of the poorest countries in the world.

So on behalf of the children and communities we work with, thank you to all our sponsors!

Plan UK Registered Charity No: 276035

SLV

Any enquiries please contact: Nick Burton. e: nick@bright-uk.com m: 07884 367567. d: 020 7620 8150 Size (Prod)

Colours(Prod)

Admagic No: Bright No: Client name: File name: Date: Size: Studio proof: Art (A/D)

0407 100647 PLAN 0407_El Salvador 30.11.07 210x443.5mm FOLD TO A5 4 Client proof: 2 Copy (C/W)

Content (Acc.)

El Salvador

Country Progress Report 2007