Through the El Salvador COVID-19 Emergency Response Project, the World Bank is supporting El Salvador’s efforts to respond and mitigate the threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen the national system for public health preparedness. Project components include emergency preparedness and provision of medicines, medical supplies, and equipment and activities related to preparedness and capacity building required to implement the Government’s COVID-19 plan.
BIC, along with our partners AMATE El Salvador and COMCAVIS TRANS, identified the following concerns:
The World Bank is financing the total project cost of $20 million.
1. The Bank should pursue meaningful stakeholder engagement in project design to protect human rights. The project is currently undergoing modifications, which presents an opportunity for the Bank and Government to incorporate stakeholder feedback in project design, especially from marginalized groups.
2. The Bank should disaggregate data by population (for example, by gender, age, location, or other marginalized group). This enables more effective project monitoring and evaluation to assess whether project benefits are reaching all groups.
3. The Bank should enhance information dissemination efforts. Many civil society organizations, especially those representing marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities or LGBTQI communities, lack knowledge of Bank projects. In this sense, stakeholder consultation processes become key opportunities for the Bank to promote dialogue and participation with civil society. Additionally, the Bank must increase its outreach across the country, especially for those in more remote areas with limited internet access.
4. The Bank should increase transparency about the project’s feedback and grievance mechanisms. By publishing clear, precise guidelines, the Bank can facilitate more engaged project monitoring and safeguard against retaliation. These mechanisms must be accessible to all those affected by the project, especially marginalized groups.
5. The Bank should facilitate culturally sensitive project consultations with LGBTQI groups. The Bank should sensitize staff involved in consultations with LGBTQI groups by conducting regular trainings. By increasing staff capacity to organize and oversee safe environments for LGBTQI consultations, Bank staff can be more responsive to concerns from sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and sexual minorities groups.
The results of project monitoring and main recommendations are reflected in this report (in Spanish).
After the publication of the first report, AMATE and COMCAVIS continued their advocacy efforts towards an inclusive vaccine distribution in El Salvador. The findings and recommendations can be found in this second report (in Spanish).
AMATE and COMCAVIS held a conversation with the Team Task Leader and Bank staff involved in the project, where the main project concerns and recommendations were shared with them. AMATE and COMCAVIS highlighted the importance of thorough and inclusive stakeholder engagement in this project and the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. An updated version of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan was released on January 13, 2021. Additional Financing (US $50 million) will be going to this project. The SEP of this AF project was disclosed on March 5, 2021 and included the main concerns and recommendations AMATE and COMCAVIS shared with the Bank team.
