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Letter from the Director
Thank you for visiting our website. As you browse the site, we hope you will appreciate the enormous contributions the U.S. government, through USAID, has made to promote the economic, social and democratic development of El Salvador and the Central America region more broadly over the past 45 years.
Having served with USAID in El Salvador during the latter years of the civil conflict and negotiation of the historic peace accords in 1992, and then again a few years after the end of the civil war, I am impressed by the progress made by Salvadorans. It is all the more noteworthy when you consider that the country has had to recover and rebuild in the aftermath of natural disasters – including two major earthquakes, flooding from two hurricanes, and a volcanic eruption just in the past 10 years.
El Salvador stands poised to make even larger strides in terms of alleviating poverty, expanding economic opportunities, improving social services and conditions, and solidifying democratic gains and institutions. The USAID program is designed to support further progress in these areas and advancement of key development goals and other measures of economic and social progress such as the indicators tracked by the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Our assistance is focused on three critical themes: Ruling Justly, Economic Freedom and Expanded Economic Opportunity, and Investing in People (health and education). Ongoing programs seek to build on the extraordinary partnership USAID enjoys with a range of public and private sector actors and a solid record of accomplishment that includes:
- enhanced competitiveness of more than 2,000 firms since July 2005;
- improvements in the quality of primary education through teacher training, textbook and materials development, and innovative classroom practices;
- expanded access to basic health services and pre- and post-natal care for mothers, resulting in a sharp decline in both infant and maternal; and
- the establishment of 26 mediations centers, facilitating resolution of family and other disputes that might otherwise escalate into more serious legal issues.
A complete description of our ongoing program can be found in the Development Assistance Program Overview (2004-2009).
In addition to our responsibility for USAID-managed bilateral assistance to El Salvador, USAID/El Salvador serves as the hub for legal, financial and contracting services for USAID missions in Mexico and the Central American region and for management of two regional programs – one supporting the governments of Central America and the Dominican Republic to meet specified targets defined in the Free Trade Agreement with Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) and the other to help Central American countries combat the rise in violence. A third Central America regional program, focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention, is managed by USAID/Guatemala. More details on each of these can be found in the Central America and Mexico Regional Program.
I encourage you to explore our website and learn more about the exciting work we are undertaking. Enjoy your visit. We welcome your feedback on our website and programs in El Salvador and the Central America Region through our webmaster es@usaid.gov.
Deborah Kennedy-Iraheta
Mission Director
USAID El Salvador
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