2003 Program Report:
Contents:
A Review
of Our Programs and Institutional Priorities
The year 2003 was one of opportunity
and reflection for SHARE. Answering a call from
our partners, SHARE refocused and broadened
our advocacy in work in 2003 to address the
impact of neoliberal economic and social policies
on our Salvadoran sisters and brothers in a
more comprehensive manner. SHARE invested a
great deal of is resources to educating and
mobilizing our grassroots base around issues
such as the Central America Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA) which threatens to push the majority
of the Salvadoran population into deeper levels
of poverty. CAFTA will also increase environmental
devastation and displace the rural population,
the majority of whom already live in poverty.
Over the last ten years, SHARE
supported over 50 local development initiatives
in the Lower Lempa region of El Salvador. There
are many successes to note from these partnerships.
Over the last several years, SHARE supported
the organization of CRIPDES women’s committees
in 29 communities and in 2003, the local communities
responded by electing an unprecedented 56% of
the women who ran to community presidencies
- the most important role in community leadership
and development. In addition, one of the municipalities
in the Lower Lempa, Tecoluca, was highlighted
by the European Union (EU) as the most organized
municipality in San Vicente where the EU is
executing a multimillion dollar investment called
“Productive San Vicente” of which
Tecoluca will be both recipient and protagonist.
At the request of the EU, Tecoluca´s community
will share its model of organization with other
municipalities
Using our successes in the
Lower Lempa as a model, we are moving our local
development work to a new region of El Salvador
in 2004. In preparation for the relocation of
our local development work, SHARE created a
transitional plan together with our partners
in the Lower Lempa. This plan called for a paced
withdrawal process of two to three years (2001-2004),
allowing for the groups in the Lower Lempa to
access additional funding, if necessary, with
SHARE’s support. SHARE will honor current
commitments to our partners, funding certain
groups in the Lower Lempa into 2004. SHARE will
also fund exchanges between groups in the Lower
Lempa and Chalchuapa and Atiquizaya (SHARE’s
new focus regions) to share experiences.
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