Emergency contribution in El Salvador
| Subject: Governance, International Relations
The European project AMSS-AMB provides help in facing COVID-19
The metropolitan governance project AMSS-AMB has distributed food baskets and basic products to 3,696 families in the 14 municipalities that comprise the San Salvador Metropolitan Area. This initiative currently being co-managed in El Salvador by the Council of Mayors and Planning Office of the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (COAMSS-OPAMSS) and the AMB has guaranteed the basic rights of families during lockdown.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected, to varying degrees, virtually every country in the world, including those in which the AMB operates. El Salvador is currently the site of a municipal governance project entitled "Strengthening San Salvador Metropolitan Area (AMSS) Governance for the Adoption and Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals", which is funded by the European Union and COAMSS-OPAMSS, a metropolitan institution with which the AMB has cooperated for years.
In light of the emergency situation caused by the pandemic, the project has been forced to adapt to the new needs. City and town councils have been required to address the most basic citizen needs despite their limited resources. For that reason, on 17 March 2020 an agreement was reached to redirect certain actions such as food and basic product aid.
The inhabitants of San Salvador and the neighbouring municipalities have been doubly affected, as they were hit by tropical storm Amanda in late May. The heavy flooding caused by the storm resulted in the death of 30 people and affected almost 30,000 families around the country. The COAMSS-OPAMSS and the Delegation of the European Union to El Salvador will also provide financial support to help alleviate the situation.