El Salvador experienced a military coup in 1972 and a civil war from 1980-92, which left a very violent society with high levels of poverty. Three percent of the 6.1 million^[1] inhabitants live in poverty and remittances account for 17% of the country’s GDP^[2]. The homicide rate is 64 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The average life expectancy is 73 years. The literacy rate is 88%, but 17% of students drop out of primary school. We have six excellent partners in El Salvador working in challenging circumstances to advance food security, nutrition, health, human rights, and economic initiatives.

[1] All the statistics in this report come from United Nations agencies (particularly UNDP) and the World Bank.

[2] Gross Domestic Product (GDP)