El Salvador

El Salvador adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2017 for the period 2017-2022. The NAP was developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women, and the Implementation Committee and its Technical Monitoring Committee. These entities were tasked with convening with UN Women, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Spanish Agency for International Development and Cooperation, the Central American Integration System, and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy as well as consulting with the Government of Chile. The NAP aims to strengthen women’s participation in all decision-making levels of peace processes; creating a culture of zero-tolerance for violence against women; offering protections and basic services to women and girls; increasing reparations for women and girl victims of armed conflict; and strengthening the monitoring of the implementation of Resolution 1325. The NAP has a detailed implementation matrix that includes actions, indicators, responsible entities, legal frames of reference, and a timeframe. Nevertheless, the NAP does not include an allocated budget. 

El Salvador reported on the implementation of its NAP and the WPS Agenda in its national reporting for Beijing+25 and in preparation for CSW64 (2020). Specifically, the country provided the following updates, among others (p. 50):

  • The governmental and civil society institutions that make up the National Committee for the Implementation of the National Action Plan have carried out important actions in order to comply with the Plan, among them:
  • Training and sensitization programs on Resolution 1325 have been implemented, directed to the personnel of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, as well as to the personnel who are in the process of Education and Training, to participate in Peacekeeping Operations Missions of the United Nations.
  • Creation of the Network of Women Human Rights Defenders of Women working in the PNC. This is a mechanism to guarantee, defend and promote the rights of women working within the Police Corporation. The Network aims to guarantee and accompany the processes of care for women working in the institution, including students of the National Academy of Public Security, who are doing police internships in the PNC.
  • Health care for women war veterans and women victims of serious human rights violations.
  • Promotion of psychosocial support groups for women veterans and victims of war. There is a draft document of the Psychosocial Care Manual, which has been consulted with different organizations and experts and is in the process of being formalized.

The most recent armed conflict in El Salvador’s history is the civil war, which took place between 1980 and 1992. The country signed a peace agreement known as the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992, which outlined a comprehensive reconstruction plan based on widespread reforms. Women constituted 13% of negotiators and 12% of signatories; nevertheless, the peace agreement did not include any provisions on protecting and promoting women’s rights.

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