July 25, 2001

La Prensa Grafica reports that the drought afflicting Central America has reduced El Salvador's harvest of basic grains by 10%. The drought, in El Salvador, is limited to four regions: Usulutan, San Miguel, Morazan, and La Union.

July 23, 2001

La Prensa Grafica reports that El Salvador still needs a national home building policy. The National Private Business Conference (ENANDE) will repeat its recommendations from last year to the legislature to facilitate home construction and create a national policy.

Drought has struck Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Panama. These countries face significant losses of corn, sorgham, beans and rice - which could leave thousands of families in hunger. In response, they have appealed to the World Food Program for assistance.

El Diario de Hoy reports that the new president of CAMAGRO (The Agricultrual and Agro-Industrial Chamber of El Salvador), Mario Salaverria, has condemned neoliberalism. He charges that the government has no true agricultural policy, and that a crisis of unemployment, poverty, and unprofitablity persists in the countryside. El Salvador's current policy leaves unsubsidized and unprotected Salvadoran farmers to compete against farmers in industrialized countries who have the benefit of protections and subsidies.

July 6, 2001

La Prensa Grafica reports that the earthquakes have left 225,000 more Salvadorans living in poverty. Statistics from the same UN Development Program study reveal that 51.2% of all Salvadorans now live in poverty (23.4% in extreme poverty). San Vicente and La Paz saw their human development set back by 10 years, Usulutan and Cuscatlan by 5 years. In general, the country's human development ranking now compares with Lesotho (in southern Africa).

Many of the country's problems existed before the earthquakes. For example, 26% of the population over 15 years old is illiterate. In the workforce, women earn 28% less than men.

The same study shows great disparities in wealth. While in more developed countries, the richest 20% of the population earns 5 times what the poorest 20% earns, in El Salvador the difference is 18 times. Poverty and underdevelopment particularly affect the rural areas: a person from rural Usulutan has a life expectancy more 10 years shorter than someone from San Salvador.

The UNDP study revealed that the housing problem in El Salvador is so great that it may take as many as 89 years to provide dignified housing to all of the families that need it. A representative of Habitat reports that government bureaucracy is making home construction take 2-3 times longer than necessary.

El Salvador has lost ground in having strong, efficient institutions. The UNDP study notes "the problems of inefficiency, disorganization, lack of transparency and ethics that some public and private entities have deteriorates the credibility of institutions."

El Diario de Hoy adds that the study reveals that 43% of the population does not have potable water and that El Salvador has one of the worst records in the world of gender equality in income distribution.

You can read the report here: http://www.desarrollohumano.org.sv/