El Salvador - GFDRR

V. RISK MANAGEMENT | 123
Pillar 4: Institutional Strengthening
In the past 25 years, the number of disasters and their repercussions on human and economic development
have increased worldwide. This same trend is observed in El Salvador. In a global context of climate change
and in light of the possible increase in floods, landslides and droughts, it is important to include the
territorial and environmental dimension in economic and social policies, and thus to reduce the increasingly
more frequent risks of disasters.
The complexity of disasters in El Salvador makes it necessary for risk management to be a State policy;
this demands the incorporation of this issue in national policies and regulatory frameworks that have a
direct effect on the use of land and its resources, such as those related to land use planning and urban
development, housing and habitat, on the provision of public services and on sectors such as agriculture
and livestock, the use of water resources, and environmental protection. A national risk management
policy will give El Salvador the ability to better control risk levels and achieve the consensus of all sectors
of society to participate in the implementation of risk reduction measures.
Risk reduction must be an integral part of the five-year plan that the Government of El Salvador is
formulating for 2009–2014 to address the underlying causes of natural threats and reduce the percentage
of the population living in hazardous areas.
The Legislative Assembly’s approval of the Land Use Planning Law (Ley de Ordenamiento Territorial)
will signify substantive progress in the task of including the revision of risk conditions in land use planning.
However, experience shows that the best results in the implementation of this type of provisions are
achieved when the Law’s regulation is developed, technical assistance is offered for the formulation of and
political consensus on land use planning, access to technical information is provided for the formulation
of the plans, and efficient mechanisms are developed to control management and public investment for
compliance with the plans.
Integrated water resources management, associated with land use planning efforts and with the promotion
of integrated watershed protection mechanisms, is essential for risk management.
The Development Plan for the San Salvador Metropolitan Region must include risk reduction. This
region contains nearly one-third of the population in 5% of the national territory, where access to decent,
safe housing, land use, drinking water supply, sanitation, urban solid waste management, and transpiration
are already serious problems.
The Government of El Salvador’s risk management efforts require additional financial and technical
support to improve the legal and institutional frameworks, including the strengthening of the National
System for Civil Protection and Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the General Bureau, and the consolidation
and updating of the National Plan.
In terms of regional cooperation, it is hoped that El Salvador will continue to increase its role within
regional organizations dealing with risk management (e.g., CEPREDENAC, UNISDR) through the development
of synergies that strengthen the country’s preparedness and resilience in the event of natural
disasters.