Local Development Program 2004-2005
Introduction
 In
El Salvador, small rural farmers are losing
their life’s work to falling agricultural
prices, families are divided as relatives are
forced to migrate “north” to send
home much needed income and single mothers struggle
to feed and educate their children. All of these
examples illustrate the great need for community
development initiatives that create economic
and educational opportunities while combating
hunger and poverty.
According to the United Nation’s
2003 Human Development Report, 21.4 percent
of the population in El Salvador lives on less
than one dollar a day and 45 percent of the
population lives on less than two dollars a
day. The rural population in El Salvador is
even poorer than the urban; close to two thirds
of rural families live in poverty and women
head nearly half of those households. In El
Salvador, there are great disparities in women’s
opportunities to earn a living for their families.
In 2001, women earned an average annual salary
of $2,771 compared to men’s 2001 annual
salary of $7,846 although women make up 55 percent
of the workforce.
Recognizing the central role
of women in the shaping and sustaining of community
and family life, and the double burden which
women carry because of gender related prejudices,
the SHARE Foundation seeks to support programs
that improve the economic, educational, and
human rights of women as well as creating relationships
of equality between men and women.
SHARE is working in the regions
of Chalchuapa, Santa Ana and Atiquizaya, Ahachuapan
where the agricultural economy is based on coffee
cultivation. These communities have been devastated
by an international coffee crisis where prices
have fallen more than 70% over the last five
years. Over 80,000 coffee producers have lost
their jobs in El Salvador. Poverty is rising
to record proportions. Child hunger has particularly
become a problem. According to Reuters’
News Agency, since 2002, 52 children under the
age of five have died of hunger in El Salvador
and over 4,000 are malnourished in coffee producing
regions.
SHARE supports organizations
advocating on behalf of small farmers and rural
populations for improved policies for this sector,
and also directly supports integrated development
projects in our focus area with an emphasis
on citizen participation. Through our local
development program, SHARE seeks to create new
economic alternatives and opportunities in this
region so that families can stay together, remain
on their land and prosper.
Local
Development Projects 2004-2005
Organizations
that SHARE will support in 2004-2005 include:
A. Marta
Gonzales Cattlewomen’s Cooperative (MUGAN)
of Zamoran makes grants ranging from
$300 to $700 to over 250 women to purchase cattle.
This project will train 30 promoters to provide
technical support on topics such as vaccinations
and cattle health, support the opening of a
general store, fund educational events and exchanges
between this cooperative and the women’s
committees of the FEDECOOPADES cooperatives
(see below.)
This project
will support the economic and organizational
efforts of the women’s committees of three
FEDECOOPADES cooperatives. This project will
support the creation of a bakery at the El Jicaro
cooperative and the expansion of a bakery at
the Paso Carrera cooperative. It will also support
the creation of a corn mill and the expansion
of a grocery store in La Reforma. Thirty-seven
women and their families, over 80 people, will
benefit from this project in an area with few
economic alternatives to coffee cultivation.
C.
Salvadoran Institute of Women’s Study
Circles (IMU) in Chalchuapa. In these
circles, women receive training on topics such
as citizen participation, self-esteem, gender
discrimination, public finances and organization.
This project will strengthen existing study
circles, promote the creation of new study circles,
and provide training so that women can advocate
for municipal policies that are important to
them.
D. Encouraging Citizen Participation in Chalchuapa
with FUNDAUNGO. In November of 2002, the Municipal
Council of Chalchuapa approved an ordinance
that seeks to guarantee the right of citizens
to present their interests in front of the government
and to participate in decisions that affect
them. This ordinance still has not been applied.
This pilot project supports the distribution
of teaching materials and training ten communities
and/or organized groups such as community councils,
women’s committees or cooperative leadership
concerning the ordinance and citizen participation.
E.
Meeting of Mesoamerican Women. From July
16-22, the fifth annual Mesoamerican Forum and
first annual Meeting of Mesoamerican women will
take place in El Salvador. The Forum will include
specific focus on gender issues through the
Encuentro Mesoamericano de Mujeres (Meeting
of Mesoamerican Women), which will examine the
economic inequalities that women face and develop
a proposal for change. Several prominent Salvadoran
women’s organizations will be coordinating
the Meeting of Mesoamerican Women including
SHARE partners the Association of Women Melida
Anaya Montes (MAM) and Women for Dignity and
Life (Las Dignas).
F.
Promoting Community Development with the CDM
of Tecoluca.
The Municipal Community Development
Council (CDM) of Tecoluca is a civil society
organization that brings together representatives
of the various communities in the larger municipality,
along with community organizations (such as
women’s groups) to work with local government
to generate community-based economic development.
In Tecoluca, where 85% of the total infrastructure
was destroyed in the 2001 earthquakes, SHARE
will support the Tecoluca CDM in the implementation
of a post-earthquake integrated rural development
plan for the entire county, benefiting 80 communities
and 30,000 people and involving a high level
of citizen participation and consensus-building.
This plan - ranging from garbage collection
to housing development to economic revitalization
- was funded and supported by SHARE and is now
attracting funding from Europe and other sources.
In addition, SHARE will arrange workshops between
the CDM of Tecoluca and the various actors in
the municipality of Chalchuapa through the FUNDAUNGO
project (please see above) to share experiences
and strategies on topics related to community
organizing, development and citizen's participation.
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