El Salvador Crisis Response Plan 2023 - 2025

Last updated: April 05 2023
$11,780,000
Funding required
46,000
People Targeted

IOM Vision

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.  

Objective
Save lives and respond to needs through humanitarian assistance and protection

$3,900,000
Funding required
33,000
People Targeted
2
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

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 2023, IOM expects to respond to at least one single country emergency, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, floods and earthquakes.  

Basic needs, including food and multi-purpose cash assistance

IOM will support the basic needs of affected communities and displaced persons in at least one emergency in El Salvador through: 

  • Distribution of multi-purpose cash assistance to populations of interest in coordination with social protection agencies and partners (local NGOs, National Direction of Shelters and GBV service providers).
  • Distribution of food items for vulnerable groups in collective centers.
Funding required
$1,000,000
Plan types

Camp coordination and camp management

IOM will support the government in the coordination and management of their emergency collective centres for displaced populations in at least one emergency in El Salvador through:

  • Deploying an emergency shelter / CCCM coordination team (coordinator, information manager, CCCM technical advisor) to support inclusive coordination between all stakeholders.
  • Contributing to coordinated assessments among the Technical Sector Committee (CTS), UN agencies and the government. 
  • Strengthening the capacity of local authorities, sector partners, and community leads through the provision of trainings on CCCM. 
  • Support the management, equipment, and operations of emergency collective centres.  
  • Coordinating the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Shelters and ensure to provide access to basic services (water, health, basic sanitation, food, among others and in coordination with other humanitarian sectors), humanitarian support such as kitchen kits, shelter kits, hygiene kits, among others, to the displaced population in collective centres.
  • Strengthen the relevant regional and national shelter and CCCM coordination structure in collaboration with DGPC, DNA 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.
Funding required
$100,000
Plan types

Protection

IOM will provide protection assistance to affected populations focusing on displaced persons and returnees, in all phases of displacement through:  

  • Raising awareness of affected people in shelters on available services and referral pathways. 
  • Training shelter staff on GVB risk mitigation.  
  • Mainstreaming protection principles across all interventions (shelter, MHPSS and CBI) to ensure safety and dignity, avoiding causing harm and guaranteeing meaningful access to assistance for all persons in need, without discrimination. 

Additionally, IOM will particularly advocate for the provision of durable solutions 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 technical guidance to 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 centers. Providing a GBV referral pathway, health, psychosocial assistance and legal and counselling services. 
  • Integrating gender mainstreaming in response plans of government institutions on emergency situations, especially on manuals and guidelines to all shelter staff to have the tools to prevent the appearance of new GBV cases within shelters.    
  • Promoting the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) with IOM partners and staff, including training on the key concepts of PSEA, how to report incidents, responsibilities, obligations, and the victim-centred approach. 
  • Providing safe spaces to protect GBV survivors, to separate them from their aggressors and to keep their integrity and life. These spaces should be separated from the main shelters and must be monitored all the time by government officials. These safe spaces could belong to municipalities, NGOs, churches or other partners in the affected territories and must be equipped to provide services that these victims may need.  
  • 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.
Funding required
$400,000
Plan types

Provision of water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies

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 pre-positioned differentiated hygiene kits (which include: deodorant, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, toilet paper, nail clippers, razor, sanitary towels, hair glue, wet towels, alcohol gel, wipes, KN95 masks) and hygiene promotion to 4,000 households (20,000 persons) in collaboration with standby partners. 
  • Improving access to water and sanitation systems including rehabilitation of sanitation facilities in collective centers.
Funding required
$200,000
Plan types

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: 

  • Improving infrastructure (including basic equipment) and living conditions for IDPs, and returnees in collective centers, contributing to the risk reduction of gender-based violence.  
  • Rapid provision of cash and vouchers assistance to meet shelter needs of families whose home has been damaged by disaster. Strengthen beneficiaries’ technical capacity to rebuild their homes to facilitate return.
  • Strengthening the relevant regional and national shelter and CCCM coordination structure in collaboration with DGPC, DNA 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 at an early stage. 
  • Transporting and distributing pre-positioned emergency shelter NFIs for 6,000 households (30,000 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 or voucher assistance, as appropriate and if feasible. 
Funding required
$2,000,000
Plan types

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian response

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 most vulnerable groups and communities, in emergency situations, and referrals to specialized life-saving mental healthcare for specific cases. 

Funding required
$200,000
Plan types
Collective center coordinator interviewed in Ciudad Merliot, during Tropical Storm Julia emergency. © IOM El Salvador 2022 / Noe Alvarado
Collective center coordinator interviewed in Ciudad Merliot, during Tropical Storm Julia emergency. © IOM El Salvador 2022 / Noe Alvarado

Objective
Address the drivers and longer-term impacts of crises and displacement, supporting durable solutions and investing in crisis prevention

$3,400,000
Funding required
2,000
People Targeted
4
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

In collaboration with the authorities and partners, IOM will provide durable support to vulnerable households that are displaced or whose house has been damaged or destroyed by a disaster, to support access to basic services, dignify spaces, accessibility, among others. Particular focus will be given to women, girls, the elderly, people living with HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities.  

In addition, IOM will support relevant local stakeholders to increase their capacity to provide essential services to migrants and vulnerable populations and lay the foundations for durable solutions, lasting peace and sustainable development, including local authorities. 

Durable solutions

Under Durable Solutions, IOM El Salvador will: 

  • Provide technical, coordination and planning support to the El Salvador Government: Ministry of the Interior through the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC) and the National Directorate of Shelters (DNA); Ministry of Public Security (MSP), Ministry of Health (MINSAL) and the Cooperation Agency of El Salvador (ESCO) on reconstruction, reparation, housing, land and property rights and planned relocations, land planning, to pave the path, both politically and socially, for providing durable solutions for displaced households or households at risk. 
  • 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. 
Funding required
$2,400,000
Plan types

Health system strengthening

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 to COVID-19, Tuberculosis (TB), tropical diseases 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, national, regional 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.  
  • Supporting the evidence generation and data-driven delivery of health services through the provision of technical assistance, technologies and training for improving coordination and enhancing local management, collection, analysis and information sharing, reporting on health data in line with national standards and in consideration to data protection policies. 
Funding required
$1,000,000
Plan types

Objective
Strengthen preparedness and reduce disaster risk

$4,200,000
Funding required
10,000
People Targeted
2
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

High risk exposure combined with low resilience and coping capacities hinders disaster preparedness and response in the country, as exemplified by floods and landslides experienced in 2022, with a notable focus on major urban centers. IOM will work with communities employing community-based resilience-building methodologies through Community-based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) planning and disaster risk management projects, as well as employing the Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) guidelines. 

Disaster prevention

IOM will provide support in developing the preparedness capacities of government and non-government partners in humanitarian response and 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 will include:  

  • Providing trainings on disaster risk reduction (DRR) in line with MICIC Guidelines and other internationally recognized standards, including on guidelines to protect migrants in a 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 draft, review and update of local policies on disaster risk reduction and management and local climate change adaptation plans and strengthening the implementation capacities of local actors through the provision of training, equipment and tools.  
  • Conducting research and actions related to Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and contributing to the generation of relevant science-based evidence and utilization of local knowledge to inform the government’s 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 linked to human mobility.
  • 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.  
  • Supporting at-risk communities and individuals mainstream climate-smart, green livelihood strategies, including through the set-up of community-based climate risk monitoring and early warning systems. 
Funding required
$800,000
Plan types

Emergency preparedness

Through the Sector for Coordination and Management of Temporary Shelters in El Salvador, IOM is planning to: 

  • Strengthen the preparedness of selected (vulnerable) municipalities through profiling the emergency shelter capacity and upgrading at least 40 collective centres, developing community evacuation plans, emergency response training of communities and improving access to data. 
  • Preposition and store NFIs (including tarpaulins, fasteners, kitchen sets, mats, solar lamps, tools, hygiene items etc.) for at least 10,000 persons in warehouses in Panama. 
  • Support DGPC, DNA 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 centers, contributing to the development of regional and subregional UN contingency plans with the focus on Shelter, CCCM, WASH, and Protection. 
  • Strengthen municipality health-care systems and capacity building, working to foster partnerships and migrant-inclusive health-related policies and enhanced coordination efforts with various stakeholders. 
  • Play an active role in coordination platforms, such as REDLAC and the Humanitarian Country Team, during emergencies.  
Funding required
$2,000,000
Plan types

Water, sanitation and hygiene in preparedness and risk reduction

In order to support WASH preparedness in relevant municipalities, IOM will: 

  • Provide hygiene kits for at least 10,000 households, storing this humanitarian aid in the warehouse in Panama.
  • Coordinate with the government and DGPC to review and assess areas with high flood risk to create an early warning system aimed at modelling and monitoring flood risk.  
Funding required
$1,200,000
Plan types

Health components of preparedness and risk reduction

Under 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.
Funding required
$200,000
Plan types

Objective
Contribute to an evidence-based and efficient crisis response system

$280,000
Funding required
At risk communities
People Targeted
2
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

IOM will 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 disasters. 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, humanitarian sectors, United Nations agencies, donors, local committees, civil society, and other key stakeholders. Findings will also inform internal IOM programs and project proposal development. 

Displacement tracking

Based on the constant and high impact of 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 forced migration, since one preludes the other in some cases. DTM activities will include this key area. 

IOM Information Management activities 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 disasters. In 2023, the focus of capacity development will be ensuring key government institutions gather and process reliable and consistent information, and identifying any data quality issues that need to be addressed. 
  • 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 disasters and mixed migratory flows (displacement due to violence, return migration and in transit). In 2023, the focus of this component will be to develop data-sharing tools for basic information on a regular basis with key 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 programs and units, among others. Examples of data usage include emergency response plans, resource allocation for humanitarian assistance, development of project proposals, etc.  

Funding required
$280,000
Plan types
Operational presence in

El Salvador

6
National staff and affiliated work force
2
IOM field office

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 31 December 2022. For more details of IOM's operational capacity in country, please see the IOM Capacity section.