El Salvador
The lives of many people in El Salvador are marked by poverty. This is particularly true of young adultswho are unable find jobs or places at university or college and have few prospects. Often, the only options available to them are to join gangs,emigrate or work in poor conditions. Together our, local partner organisation CORDES, we help them to set up income-generating initiatives and provide them with financial start-up support.
Hear from the people on the ground
José Amilcar Rodriguez Lopez
28 years old
The civil war in El Salvador ended in 1992, but the gap between rich and poor remains huge. In the department of Chalatenango, one of the regions most affected by the conflict, the poverty rate is over 30%. Families live on agriculture, fishing and ‘remesas’ (private remittances from abroad). The region suffers from high unemployment and violence. There are hardly any prospects for young people in particular – almost a third of young people are not in education, training or employment.
The aim is to help young adults to develop and successfully set up their own income-generating initiatives to enable them to escape poverty.
In the last project phase, 232 young adults were able to start their own income-generating initiative. They have an average monthly income of 330 US dollars.
CORDES (Fundación para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Comunal de El Salvador) has been working towards sustainable development in rural areas since 1988. terre des hommes schweiz has been supporting this organisation since 2002.
We work in 16 communities in the department of Chalatenango. The current project phase covers the years 2025–2027 with an annual budget of CHF 160,000.
terre des hommes schweiz
Kasernenhof 8
4058 Basel