El Salvador Basic Facts

1. UNCT Joint Support to MDG Achievement at Country-Level: The Case of El Salvador 15 July 2009Jessica FaietaUN Resident CoordinatorEl Salvador

2. El Salvador Basic Facts Region: Central America Area: 21,040 sq km – smallest in LA Population (2009):6.1 million (plus 3 million immigrants in US) GDP per capita (2008): 3,612 USD (MIC) Remittances (2008): 3,788 million (17.1% of GDP) Underutilization rate(% of labor force):49.9% Human Development Index (2008): 0.742 (middle HDI) Position in HDI ranking (2008): 101/179 Poverty rate (headcount ratio) (2008): 46.4% Recent government change

3. MDG Scorecard: Where is El Salvador lagging behind Source: ELS MDG Report, 2009

4. UNCT Joint Support to MDG achievement: MDG Report El Salvador MDG High Level Panel Established by the President of El Salvador Integrated by UNCT and Interministerial Committee Chaired by UNRC and Minister of Education Joint UN System and Government Technical Team Coordinated by UNDP Monthly discussion and agreements on data and indicators Second National MDG Report including: Updated MDG scorecard Indicators methodology (from national sources) Analysis of policies that contributed to MDGs Recommendations for future policy options for next Gov Process Result

5. Crisis impact on MDGs Poverty rates have increased 10 percentage points in the last two years Backward step of 10 years in absolute and relative terms Formal sector is losing jobs (around 30,000 since September 2008) Underemployment rates might raise Decent work rates are declining Social budget have stagnated due to fiscal constraints Remittances incomes (macroeconomic pillar) are falling: Household expenditure on health and education is likely to decrease

6. UNCT Joint Support to MDG achievement: MDG 2 • Joint UNCT project: Poverty Alleviation and MDGs • Updated scorecard and National Plan for the MDGs • Policy analysis and recommendations for MDG achievement • Support to Ministry of Education • National Education Plan 2021 including MDG targets • Difficulties in achieving MDG 2 • MDG 2 costing exercise • RC coordination jointly with UN agencies • Participating agencies: UNICEF, WFP, UNDP and UNESCO • Negotiations with Ministry of Education • UN Joint Project • Resource mobilization

7. Problem identification Focused UN support UNCT Joint Support to MDG achievement: MDG 2 UNDP: • Costing for MDG 2 and National Education Plan • Data analysis to identify 400 lowest success schools • Identification of financial and human resources (% of GDP) • Fully trained national team on use of EPSSim tool • Strengthened national office technical capacity WFP: • Strengthen school feeding programs UNICEF: • Policies to raise academic success rate UNESCO: • Advise on EPSSim adaptation Difficulties in keeping children at school Not easy to identify lowest performance schools Recognition of financial and human resources needed to achieve MDG 2 National capacity development

8. Key success factors for UN work in El Salvador • Strong political commitment to MDG at highest levels • We work taking advantage of each UN agency comparative advantage: • UNFPA in statistics • UNICEF in children policies • UNDP as Human Development reference • WFP as nutrition experts • UNESCO in education policies • Strong UN staff technical capacity • Strengthened by specialized teams (i.e. MDG ST) • UN ability to engage and convene wide participation • Among UN agencies • With the Government • With the donors • Added-value: UN global capacity and expertise

9. Looking forward • Replicate this experience with new administration • Health sector (maternal and child mortality plus HIV-AIDS off track) • Cash Transfer Scheme (poverty rates likely to reverse due to crisis) • Urban Poverty Programme • Establishment of Local UN MDG Support Team coordinated by UNDP El Salvador • With participation of government specialists trained and UN System national staff Key areas affected by crisis

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