IOM, in partnership with other key strategic actors, seeks to strengthen institutional and community capacities to better prepare for and respond to crisis situations in El Salvador. IOM will contribute to efforts to address humanitarian needs arising from disasters, alongside the challenges arising from large-scale movements to and from the United States and Mexico, working to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities of affected populations and support sustainable recovery, reintegration and preparedness at national and local levels.
4,2, Medium |
|
4, High |
|
127 of 193 |
El Salvador is located in Central America, a region vulnerable to disasters, risks and intertropical convergence. The country experiences a variety of climatic events, including floods, hurricanes and droughts, particularly in the Dry Corridor, and is prone to geological events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (DGPC 2023). These recurrent shocks are becoming more intense; in the last seven years, storms and hurricanes have increased both in number and destructive force. Therefore, human mobility flows will continue at high levels, including outbound, transit, and return migration, as well as forced displacement within the country. The different impacts of these movements will maintain the need for temporary collective centres with effective management and coordination mechanisms to respond to humanitarian needs.
These recurrent shocks are increasingly more intense, and their causes and effects are linked to climate change, migration, and economic, social, political, and environmental factors. For example, El Salvador was struck by Tropical Storm Julia in 2022. The most flood-affected areas were vulnerable rural and shanty town communities, three of which were especially affected. At least 2,125 affected people were housed in 74 collective centrers and 58 roads were damaged or blocked (OCHA 2022).
Global situations such as the pandemic, current dynamics and price inflation have led to the population being limited in obtaining employment, housing, social coverage, access to basic services, quality food, and education, among others.
El Salvador is located in Central America, a region vulnerable to disasters, risks and intertropical convergence. The country experiences a variety of climatic events, including floods, hurricanes and droughts, particularly in the Dry Corridor, and is prone to geological events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (DGPC 2023). These recurrent shocks are becoming more intense; in the last seven years, storms and hurricanes have increased both in number and destructive force. Therefore, human mobility flows will continue at high levels, including outbound, transit, and return migration, as well as forced displacement within the country. The different impacts of these movements will maintain the need for temporary collective centres with effective management and coordination mechanisms to respond to humanitarian needs.
These recurrent shocks are increasingly more intense, and their causes and effects are linked to climate change, migration, and economic, social, political, and environmental factors. For example, El Salvador was struck by Tropical Storm Julia in 2022. The most flood-affected areas were vulnerable rural and shanty town communities, three of which were especially affected. At least 2,125 affected people were housed in 74 collective centrers and 58 roads were damaged or blocked (OCHA 2022).
Global situations such as the pandemic, current dynamics and price inflation have led to the population being limited in obtaining employment, housing, social coverage, access to basic services, quality food, and education, among others. According to the Multi-purpose Household Survey (EHPM, 2022), in El Salvador there were approximately 62 people employed or offering their labour force for every 100 people of working age and the overall participation rate is higher for men than for women; of those employed people, only 35 out of every 100 have access to social security coverage, either public or private. At the national level 39% of households live in overcrowded conditions, with a prevalence of 52.5% in rural areas, land insecurity for housing in El Salvador is 9.3%, one of the indicators of housing poverty along with overcrowding, and deficiency of roof, floor, and wall materials. 26.6% of households are in poverty. Added to this, are climatic events such as the El Niño phenomenon, largely affected people in rural areas during 2023 and June 2024, which has affected El Salvador's economy, contributing to discrepancies in income levels. These socio-economics factors are projected to deepen the vulnerability to disasters and other crises of various communities across the country, including the vulnerability to the effects of climate change and epidemics, increasing socio-economic and gender inequality, structural violence and food insecurity.
High level of poverty, recurrent climatic shocks, generalized violence, and limited access to services continue to deeply affect populations and communities, resulting in complex interlinked weaknesses and vulnerabilities, constituting drivers of migration and impacting the sustainability of returns. Between January 2023 and October 2024, 35,975 people from El Salvador were apprehended in the United States (IOM 2024). In addition, El Salvador has become a common transit country for irregular migrants on their way to the United States.
Data from the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration (DGME) reveals that 14,437 Salvadorans returned to El Salvador from the United States and Mexico in 2022. This represents a 70% increase compared to 2021. As of September 2023, the number of returnees reached 8,833 and from January to October 2024 it reached 12,873 returnees to El Salvador.
Communities historically affected by violence require specialized humanitarian assistance services as they deal with people displacing and people returning to the community. Returnees from the North of Central America (NCA) are at risk of irregular migration due to the lack of access to services, livelihood opportunities and inadequate housing.
With the implementation of a new immigration policy in the United States by 2025, an increase in migration flows at Mexico's northern border and massive deportations of people in an irregular situation are expected. This will have a significant impact on the population returning to El Salvador. In the period from 2017 to 2021, when a similar policy was implemented, 109,989 people returned to the country (IOM 2024).
During the months of June, July and November of 2024, the country was affected by rains that left around seven thousand people sheltered and almost 300 shelters. This has presented a significant challenge in the response since these have been recurring and high-impact emergencies.
In 2025 and 2026, IOM’s activities will focus on saving the lives of people affected by emergencies, strengthening the response capabilities of the National Civil Protection System of El Salvador, and providing humanitarian assistance and protection, as well as addressing the drivers and long-term effects of crises and displacement through investments in disaster recovery and prevention, strengthening disaster risk reduction and preparedness by government institutions, and building the capacities of local governments and communities.
IOM in El Salvador collaborates closely with the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC) and the Directorate of Collective Centers (DA), both under the Ministry of Interior. IOM also partners with other organizations, including non-governmental organizations, Local Municipalities, the Association of Municipalities and Municipal and Local Emergency Committees.
IOM co-leads with UNHCR the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Collective Centres - the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) sector - in the country since 2022 and, as such, has been working for several years in close coordination with different stakeholders to improve living conditions in collective centres. In this regard, IOM has supported the national government, local authorities, and communities through the provision of technical assistance, awareness raising, training, tools, and protocols to strengthen their capacities in terms of management and coordination of collective centres. Furthermore, IOM regularly participates in inter-agency forums such as the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), and UN Network on Migration (UNNM), among others. To ensure the sustainability of the actions, coordination between active Sectors from the United Nations in El Salvador avoids duplicative efforts and ensures the sustainability of the activities and the international minimum standards for humanitarian assistance.
DGPC is an entity created to coordinate public and private organizations in the face of disasters and is part of the National Risk Management System of El Salvador. DA is the entity of the Ministry of Interior that manages, coordinates, and articulates emergency collective centres to effectively support vulnerable populations around the country. Given their strategic position among governmental mechanisms for migration management and their consolidated relationship with the humanitarian network, DGPC and DA are priority partners for the implementation of activities by IOM El Salvador.
IOM in El Salvador collaborates closely with the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC) and the Directorate of Collective Centers (DA), both under the Ministry of Interior. IOM also partners with other organizations, including non-governmental organizations, Local Municipalities, the Association of Municipalities and Municipal and Local Emergency Committees.
IOM co-leads with UNHCR the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Collective Centres - the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) sector - in the country since 2022 and, as such, has been working for several years in close coordination with different stakeholders to improve living conditions in collective centres. In this regard, IOM has supported the national government, local authorities, and communities through the provision of technical assistance, awareness raising, training, tools, and protocols to strengthen their capacities in terms of management and coordination of collective centres. Furthermore, IOM regularly participates in inter-agency forums such as the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), and UN Network on Migration (UNNM), among others. To ensure the sustainability of the actions, coordination between active Sectors from the United Nations in El Salvador avoids duplicative efforts and ensures the sustainability of the activities and the international minimum standards for humanitarian assistance.
DGPC is an entity created to coordinate public and private organizations in the face of disasters and is part of the National Risk Management System of El Salvador. DA is the entity of the Ministry of Interior that manages, coordinates, and articulates emergency collective centres to effectively support vulnerable populations around the country. Given their strategic position among governmental mechanisms for migration management and their consolidated relationship with the humanitarian network, DGPC and DA are priority partners for the implementation of activities by IOM El Salvador.
IOM in El Salvador implements the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), a system to track and monitor displacement and population mobility. It is designed to regularly and systematically capture, process and disseminate information to provide a better understanding of the movements and evolving needs of displaced populations, whether on-site or in route. Thanks to this effort, partners from the CCCM sector and other humanitarian sectors (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Food Security, Protection, and Health, among others) and IOM's humanitarian response operational units (operations, construction, protection and coordination) can count on timely information to provide humanitarian support to displaced populations.
The IOM Regional Office for the Americas, comprising 24 countries, oversees, plans, coordinates and supports IOM activities in the region; formulates regional strategies, guides their implementation and also implements regional programmes of strategic importance and provides programmatic support in the region on specific issues such as labour migration, immigration and border governance, action against smuggling and trafficking in persons, protection of rights, migration and health, migration and environment and climate change, among others. In addition, the Regional Office serves as a link and coordinates with regional and subregional processes and initiatives, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations such as the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Regional Conference on Migration (CRM) and other key stakeholders.
El Salvador became a member of IOM in 1968, and the Organization has maintained an office in the country's capital since 1983. The Country Office works in coordination with the Government, the UN System, civil society and the private sector to improve results for the benefit of people on the move throughout the migration cycle (migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees) and their communities. In El Salvador, IOM is an active member of the United Nations Country Team and the Humanitarian Country Team and shares the lead of the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Collective Centers (CCCM).
In the last five years, the Mission has provided support and implemented programmes in the following areas: institutional capacities for migration governance, prevention of irregular migration, dignified assisted voluntary returns, post-arrival assistance, sustainable reintegration, humanitarian assistance, protection, resettlement, provision of pre-departure cultural orientation for resettlement to third country beneficiaries, empowerment of migrant women and youth, quality of and access to education and health for migrants and displaced persons, basic infrastructure, disaster preparedness and response, and migration data for evidence-based decision-making, among others.
The IOM Regional Office for the Americas, comprising 24 countries, oversees, plans, coordinates and supports IOM activities in the region; formulates regional strategies, guides their implementation and also implements regional programmes of strategic importance and provides programmatic support in the region on specific issues such as labour migration, immigration and border governance, action against smuggling and trafficking in persons, protection of rights, migration and health, migration and environment and climate change, among others. In addition, the Regional Office serves as a link and coordinates with regional and subregional processes and initiatives, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations such as the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Regional Conference on Migration (CRM) and other key stakeholders.
El Salvador became a member of IOM in 1968, and the Organization has maintained an office in the country's capital since 1983. The Country Office works in coordination with the Government, the UN System, civil society and the private sector to improve results for the benefit of people on the move throughout the migration cycle (migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees) and their communities. In El Salvador, IOM is an active member of the United Nations Country Team and the Humanitarian Country Team and shares the lead of the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Collective Centers (CCCM).
In the last five years, the Mission has provided support and implemented programmes in the following areas: institutional capacities for migration governance, prevention of irregular migration, dignified assisted voluntary returns, post-arrival assistance, sustainable reintegration, humanitarian assistance, protection, resettlement, provision of pre-departure cultural orientation for resettlement to third country beneficiaries, empowerment of migrant women and youth, quality of and access to education and health for migrants and displaced persons, basic infrastructure, disaster preparedness and response, and migration data for evidence-based decision-making, among others.
IOM has a multi-disciplinary group of staff located in the Metropolitan area of San Salvador (AMSS), which guarantees an adequate presence in the field, directly implementing several of its projects. It is supported by the regional office in Panamá and Headquarters (HQ) to provide an effective response across CCCM, shelter and settlements, WASH, protection, prevention, preparedness and response.
IOM operations and emergency response are guided by protection principles to ensure safety and dignity, avoid causing harm and guarantee meaningful access to assistance for all persons in need, without discrimination. In addition, IOM supports a diverse peacebuilding portfolio designed to prevent, manage and resolve conflict as a driver of displacement and obstacle to return and reintegration working at individual, community and institutional levels. (IOM 2024). The approach includes the Centrality of Protection, GBV risk mitigation as per the IOM Institutional Framework for Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Crises (GBViC) as well as Disability Inclusion throughout the programme cycle. Particular attention is given to effective participation and empowerment of the community, ensuring that complaint and feedback mechanisms (CFM) and other reporting mechanisms related to prevention against sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and the Child Safeguarding Policy are in place to prevent misconduct and guarantee accountability to the affected population, in line with the IOM Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) Framework.
IOM provides support to government institutions such as the DGPC and DA through training on the management and coordination of collective centres, site planning, DTM and other tools to strengthen technical teams that work continuously in emergency response. In addition, the Organization has trained the government in specific territories at other levels of the Civil Protection System on protection issues, and psychological first aid, among others.
Likewise, in coordination with the DGPC and DA, IOM supports the baseline data of the national-level mapping of collective centres infrastructure, including updating and equiping some of these spaces in line with the Sphere Minimum Standards to ensure access to dignified and protective shelter for the affected populations.
While training needs to remain at all technical levels (national, departmental, and municipal), IOM strengthened local capacities by providing training to the National Civil Protection System on key topics such as CCCM, CCCM training of trainers (ToT), Protection, PSEA, and site planning. In addition, given new dynamics in the prevention, mitigation, and emergency response in the country, IOM plans to continue to support the government in updating and adapting relevant plans, documents, and training modules to better respond to the evolving context.
IOM's strategy for El Salvador 2023-2026 has three objectives and ten outcomes to guide the organization's work. The first objective is resilience, supporting vulnerable people and their communities, driving the reduction of vulnerabilities and fostering sustainable reintegration. The second objective is mobility, promoting regular migration and supporting government efforts to strengthen protection and security around the migration process. The third objective is governance, supporting El Salvador in migration governance and strengthening cooperation with the UN and regional mechanisms through data, analysis and research.
IOM provides support to government institutions such as the DGPC and DA through training on the management and coordination of collective centres, site planning, DTM and other tools to strengthen technical teams that work continuously in emergency response. In addition, the Organization has trained the government in specific territories at other levels of the Civil Protection System on protection issues, and psychological first aid, among others.
Likewise, in coordination with the DGPC and DA, IOM supports the baseline data of the national-level mapping of collective centres infrastructure, including updating and equiping some of these spaces in line with the Sphere Minimum Standards to ensure access to dignified and protective shelter for the affected populations.
While training needs to remain at all technical levels (national, departmental, and municipal), IOM strengthened local capacities by providing training to the National Civil Protection System on key topics such as CCCM, CCCM training of trainers (ToT), Protection, PSEA, and site planning. In addition, given new dynamics in the prevention, mitigation, and emergency response in the country, IOM plans to continue to support the government in updating and adapting relevant plans, documents, and training modules to better respond to the evolving context.
IOM's strategy for El Salvador 2023-2026 has three objectives and ten outcomes to guide the organization's work. The first objective is resilience, supporting vulnerable people and their communities, driving the reduction of vulnerabilities and fostering sustainable reintegration. The second objective is mobility, promoting regular migration and supporting government efforts to strengthen protection and security around the migration process. The third objective is governance, supporting El Salvador in migration governance and strengthening cooperation with the UN and regional mechanisms through data, analysis and research.












IOM El Salvador will implement a localization strategy based on the 5 pillars. We maintain a strong alliance with key partners at the national and local level that allows us to carry out our humanitarian actions quickly and effectively. The proposed interventions are based on the humanitarian needs that displaced populations by disasters or other factors have mentioned through different emergency processes in which IOM has been able to make field visits and talk with these populations. We coordinate with Civil Protection at all levels of the response (national, departmental, municipal and local), with municipalities, communities and vulnerable populations.
Also, a close coordination is maintained with the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide timely support to returnees in vulnerable conditions such as people without roots, migrants with disabilities, women heads of household, among others, and to facilitate psychosocial, economic and social reintegration processes.
IOM El Salvador will implement a localization strategy based on the 5 pillars. We maintain a strong alliance with key partners at the national and local level that allows us to carry out our humanitarian actions quickly and effectively. The proposed interventions are based on the humanitarian needs that displaced populations by disasters or other factors have mentioned through different emergency processes in which IOM has been able to make field visits and talk with these populations. We coordinate with Civil Protection at all levels of the response (national, departmental, municipal and local), with municipalities, communities and vulnerable populations.
Also, a close coordination is maintained with the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide timely support to returnees in vulnerable conditions such as people without roots, migrants with disabilities, women heads of household, among others, and to facilitate psychosocial, economic and social reintegration processes.
Saving lives and protecting people on the move

Facilitate safe and dignified access to humanitarian assistance according to the needs of people affected and displaced by emergencies situations caused by droughts, earthquakes, environmental degradation or effects resulting from climate change and migrants returning or in transit within the country. Support the addition of the prepositioning of humanitarian assistance to immediately respond to emergencies, work with health authorities to improve assistance to displaced populations due to emergencies and to populations on the move, safe, dignified and inclusive spaces for the immediate protection of these populations and provide specialized services such as psychosocial assistance, information on gender violence and refer cases to state protection institutions.
Driving solutions to displacement

Work hand in hand with the Salvadoran cooperation agency, civil protection and shelters to implement a pilot project to identify spaces for the adaptation of safe and multifunctional shelters.. Likewise, support the training of officials at all levels to provide adequate responses with humanitarian approaches in emergency situations, from the National School of Civil Protection. This with the aim of improving the capacities to prepare for future emergencies from a DRR approach, while strengthening resilience and adaptive capacities to climate change.
Percentage of funding required contributing to the long term outcomes expressed on IOM's Strategic Results Framework.
IOM will work across sectors and with the protection sector, in which it actively participates, with the aim of ensuring that protection is central to its interventions. Protection principles will be mainstreamed across interventions to ensure safety and dignity, avoid causing harm and guarantee meaningful access to assistance for all the persons in need, without discrimination. In addition, a PSEA officer who provides support to implement actions to prevent and identify possible cases that must be addressed immediately. Feedback mechanisms will be implemented to allow the people assisted to report on the humanitarian actions implemented and how this affects their daily lives.
IOM is committed to integrating GBV risk mitigation across all sectors of its operations. IOM El Salvador will work to reduce the risk of exposure to GBV for all women, girls and other vulnerable groups at risks of GBV.

Basic needs, including food and multi-purpose cash assistance
Upon request for international assistance, IOM will provide immediate life-saving assistance and protection to local communities, and internally displaced persons affected by disasters anywhere in El Salvador, in close collaboration with the government and partners. In 2025, IOM expects to respond to at least one emergency, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, floods and earthquakes. In addition, IOM will continue to strengthen the Government and other partners' preparedness for emergencies.
IOM will also strengthen partnerships with the DGPC and Local Emergency Committees in order to promote the availability of timely information on internally displaced populations due to natural hazards. On one hand, IOM will support government capacities to collect, process, analyse and share data for evidence-based decision-making. On the other hand, IOM will collect information on IDPs through DTM to inform decision-making. Based on the key role data sharing plays in humanitarian emergencies, data will be promoted with local and central government institutions, the humanitarian sector, United Nations agencies, donors, local committees, civil society, and other key stakeholders. Findings will also inform internal IOM programmes and project proposal development.

Camp coordination and camp management
IOM will support the government in strengthening the coordination and management mechanisms of its emergency shelters for the displaced population, following up on the activities of 2024, in emergencies in El Salvador by:
- Strengthening and expansion of the CCCM/emergency shelter coordination teams (coordinator, information manager, CCCM technical advisor) at the national and departmental levels.
- Support the implementation of intersectoral assessments to understand the needs of displaced persons in temporary shelters for the Sectoral Technical Commission for Shelters (CTSA) and with other UN agencies and partners in the sector.
- Implement a training process on CCCM to support local authorities and community leaders, to increase the capacities of the population in the territory during 2025.
- Strengthen the relevant regional and national shelter and CCCM coordination structure in collaboration with DGPC, DA and other partners by deploying (Emergency) Shelter Sector Specialists to monitor stakeholder activities, coordinate assessments, set standards, and active coordination of activities and development of durable solutions in an early stage.

Mental health and psychosocial support
Under Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Response, IOM will:
- Provide community-based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) (including psychoeducation, psychological first aid, counselling and socio-relational cultural and play-based psychosocial activities) for the most vulnerable groups and communities, in emergency situations, and referrals to specialized life-saving mental healthcare for specific cases.

Protection
Additionally, IOM will particularly strengthen the provision of durable solutions to avoid GBV for the population of interest in an early stage and accountability of government entities and NGOs and GBV referral mechanisms. Activities will include:
- Provision of toolboxes and SOP templates to evaluate GVB risk in other IOM sectors, IOM’s implementing partners and governments, starting from GBV risk analyses in emergency situations, through capacity-building and action plans.
- Mitigation activities: Creating risk assessment working groups in collective centres. Providing a GBV referral pathway, health, psychosocial assistance and legal and counselling services.
- Integrating gender mainstreaming in response plans through the training of the representatives on the GBV intersectoral group and inclusion of the GBV on emergency plans of the sectors-
- Train IOM implementing partners and emergency staff on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), including training on the key concepts of PSEA, how to report incidents, responsibilities, obligations, and the victim-centred approach.
- Accompany IOM implementing partners to build, equip and enhance existing safe shelters for GVB survivors.
- Provision of assistance GBV risk mitigation activities established in the GBV guidelines by training non-GBV specialized staff on how to handle a GBV disclosure safely and ethically and promoting the participation of women and girls throughout the design, implementation, and monitoring processes of shelter-related activities. This will be implemented in close coordination and consultation with the GBV specialist. Implement permanent solutions to empower GVB survivors to their own economic autonomy, such as entrepreneurial training, job search, and employability, among others.

Water, sanitation and hygiene
IOM will provide life-saving WASH assistance to the affected communities and displaced persons in at least one emergency in El Salvador through:
- Transportation and distribution of 5,000 pre-positioned differentiated hygiene kits, including MHM for women and girls of reproductive age.
- In collaboration with standby partners, improving access to water and sanitation systems including the rehabilitation of sanitation facilities in collective centres.
In order to support WASH preparedness in relevant municipalities, IOM will be:
- Providing hygiene kits for at least 10,000 households, storing this humanitarian aid in the IOM warehouse in Panama.
- Coordinating with the government and DGPC to review and assess areas with high flood risks to monitor, and an early warning system and modelling for risk reduction.

Shelter and settlements
IOM will provide life-saving shelter and non-food item assistance to affected communities and displaced persons in at least one emergency in El Salvador through:
- Supporting the government programme to build new collective centres, in coordination with DA and DGPC in the most vulnerable communities, following up on activities of 2024.
- Rapid provision of CBI to meet the shelter needs of families whose homes have been damaged by disaster. The CBI will support beneficiaries’ capacity with new materials to rebuild their homes to facilitate return.
- Transportation and distribution of pre-positioned emergency shelter NFIs for 5,000 households (25,000 persons), including emergency shelter kits, solar lamps, and kitchen sets from the IOM warehouses in Panama to displaced and affected households in collaboration with partners. The composition of the kits will be reviewed and agreed with the Sector. When needed, shelter and non-food item assistance can also be provided through cash transfer, as appropriate and if feasible.
- Support community/owner driven house repairs for 400 displaced households through a combination of technical assistance, awareness-raising/training on safe construction, construction materials, labour and conditional cash support for reconstruction; in partnership with international and local NGOs’ support.

Disaster risk management
Through the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Shelters in El Salvador, IOM will be:
- Strengthening the preparedness of selected (vulnerable) municipalities through profiling the collective centre capacity and activities to support the readiness of up to 30 collective centres, developing community evacuation plans, emergency response training of communities and improving access to data.
- Prepositioning and storing NFIs (including tarpaulins, fasteners, kitchen sets, mats, solar lamps, tools, hygiene items etc.) for at least 20,000 persons in IOM warehouses in Panama.
- Supporting DGPC and the UN system with all aspects of human mobility in emergencies, including the development of policies and protocols around planned relocations, mass evacuations, and collective centres, contributing to the development of regional and subregional UN contingency plans with a focus on Shelter, CCCM, WASH, and Protection.
- Playing an active role in the coordination platforms such as REDLAC and the Humanitarian Country Team during emergencies.
- Strengthening government capacity building in site planning and collective center physical interventions due to natural disasters, more specifically in earthquakes where collective centers may be destroyed or damaged.
IOM provides support in developing the preparedness capacities of government and non-government partners in humanitarian response, assisting vulnerable populations and providing support for populations who are likely to be severely affected by the impact of disasters and crises. IOM’s initiatives include:
- Providing trainings on disaster risk reduction (DRR) in line with Migrant in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Guidelines and other internationally recognized standards, including on Guidelines to Protect Migrants in Countries Experiencing Conflict or Natural Disaster to crisis-affected communities as part of CCCM and evacuation, shelter response and recovery programmes, mainstreaming protection principles and durable solutions.
- Supporting the drafting, review and update of local policies on disaster risk reduction and management and local climate change adaptation plans and strengthening implementation capacities through the provision of training, equipment and tools.
- Update research and actions related to climate change adaptation (CCA) and policies and programmes, and multi-sectoral programmes (i.e. food security-WASH-climate change, DTM-community stabilization) with other development partners including UN agencies and CSO partners.
- Conducting advocacy work for policies and research related to CCA in El Salvador.
- Conducting consultations with communities vulnerable to climate risk to develop community action plans that identify localized climate adaptation strategies and providing technical assistance to implement these plans, in vulnerable communities.
- Supporting at-risk communities and individuals to mainstream climate-smart, green livelihood strategies, including through the set-up of community-based climate risk monitoring and early warning systems.
- Community-based surveillance that provides cultural information on vulnerabilities, capacity and adaptation of the health system to climate change; integrated surveillance of population risks, as well as early warning systems that allow anticipating threats to the health of the mobile population.
- Strengthen the development of skills and competencies in environmental health, health education and hygiene promotion through an educational approach at the individual, family and community level in the institutions that make up the National Integrated Health System and the municipal and communal commissions of the health system, including civil protection.

Data for action, insight and foresight
Based on the constant and high impact of natural disasters that affect the country every year, there is a need to fill in the current information gap on internally displaced populations. Therefore, it is fundamental to strengthen the capacities of El Salvador institutions to collect, process, analyse and share data on displaced populations due to natural disasters. Additionally, it is important to generate information on the link between internal displacement and migration, since one leads to the other in some cases. DTM activities will include this key link.
Information management activities for data for action and data for insight will revolve around two main outcomes:
- Capacity development of government institutions such as DGPC and other relevant stakeholders to collect, process and analyse timely information on displaced populations affected by natural hazards. In 2025, the focus of capacity development will be on the coordinated analysis and sharing of data produced by different government institutions to promote an integrated response to emerging emergencies.
- Developing mechanisms to share timely data collected using DTM tools and methodologies on displaced populations to better prepare for and respond to emergencies related to natural hazards and mixed migratory flows (displacement due to violence, return migration and in transit). In 2025, the focus of this component will be to promote dialogue and discussion on available data to promote the use of the tools and to identify additional data needs to better inform decision-making of different stakeholders.
Key stakeholders that will benefit from the data sharing include UN Agencies, the Humanitarian Country Team, NGOs, other government institutions, donors and international cooperation, and IOM internal programmes and units, among others. Examples of data usage include emergency response plans, resource allocation for humanitarian assistance, development of project proposals, etc.

Health
IOM will support health systems strengthening efforts in El Salvador and enhance the preparedness and response capacity of the national and local health systems in line with 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR). It seeks to build inclusive health systems to ensure services are readily available to migrants, IDPs and other vulnerable groups and build resilient health systems to combat public health emergencies such as COVID-19, Tuberculosis (TB), tropical diseases such as predominantly infectious pathologies with poor hygienic-sanitary, socioeconomic and environmental conditions and other public health threats. IOM’s initiatives in new vulnerable communities, following up activities of the previous year, include:
- Providing critical medical equipment and relevant trainings to improve prevention, detection and response to communicable diseases in the context of widespread and multi-directional human mobility.
- Strengthening/ensuring referrals to appropriate health services.
- Empowering migrants, people on the move and host communities, in communicable disease prevention, and response through community engagement.
- Facilitating collaboration and sharing of best practices amongst the international, regional, national, and local government health officials and experts to ensure alignment of local policies and practices with key standards such as IHR and Philippine Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response.
- Supporting needs and capacity assessment of key POEs and health facilities and addressing their gaps in the provision of healthcare services including IPC, health screening, testing, referral and mobility monitoring, through the provision of technical assistance, training and equipment.
- Information systems to improve local management, collection, analysis and sharing of information, and reporting on health data.
To strengthen the health components of preparedness and risk reduction, IOM El Salvador will:
- Support emergency public health risk reduction and prevention measures linked to disaster response activities; building health system capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks and health threats, including through the strengthening of disease surveillance systems and population mobility mapping (PMM) to foster a migration-sensitive approach to preparedness and risk reduction, as well as community events-based surveillance, data collection and ensuring information is integrated into national surveillance and reporting mechanisms.
- Pilot an educational program on prevention, risk management, health services, and safe water management in coordination with WASH units to raise awareness among communities about their right to access universal health in an emergency context.
- Develop educational audiovisual content on access to health services, to communicate key messages that empower communities in emergency preparation and response (applying the communication for development methodology).

Land and property
IOM El Salvador will provide technical, coordination and planning support to the El Salvador Government, including the Ministry of the Interior through the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC) and the National Directorate of Shelters (DA); Ministry of Public Security (MSP), Ministry of Health (MINSAL) and the Cooperation Agency of El Salvador (ESCO) on:
- Risk assessments of plots and housing, land and property rights and planned relocations, and land planning, to pave the path, both politically and socially for relocations.
- Providing transport to people of displaced households or households at risk.
El Salvador
The map used here is for illustration purposes only. Names and boundaries do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IOM.
Figures are as of November 2024. For more details of IOM's operational capacity in country, please see the IOM Capacity section.