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El Salvador

El Salvador Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025 - Summary

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Humanitarian Needs

El Salvador is grappling with a humanitarian crisis characterized by compounding threats of extreme weather events, human mobility, and persistent food insecurity, worsened by global economic pressures and rising inflation.

The humanitarian analysis focused on the main shocks – climateinduced events and human mobility —and accounts for a reduction in the number of people in need of assistance compared to last year, with 818,700 people identified for the 2025 Humanitarian Programme Cycle.

The country's vulnerability to climate-driven disruptions remains high. The transition from El Niño to La Niña has led to erratic climate patterns, with a severe drought in 2023 followed by intense rains in 2024, pushing food insecurity rates upward. Currently 0.9 per cent of households face severe food scarcity, with many others moderately food insecure. These environmental shifts not only reduce crop yields but also strain rural communities reliant on agriculture for survival and now burdened by inflation-driven rising living costs.

Human mobility is another major driver of humanitarian needs in El Salvador. As both a country of origin and transit for migrants, El Salvador has seen thousands of people leaving in search of economic stability and better living conditions. From January to August 2024 alone, US border officials encountered over 30,000 Salvadorans at their southern border, many of them families and unaccompanied children.

Returns have also surged, with a 35.8 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2023, adding strain to communities already struggling with poverty and limited social services. This high mobility has left an estimated 95,000 children without one or both parents, further fraying a social fabric already weakened by poverty and scarce resources.

Response Plan for 2025

In 2025, the humanitarian community aims to assist 407,500 of El Salvador’s most vulnerable people– about 49 per cent of those in need—requiring $66.9 million. The number of people in need has decreased slightly from 2024 due to a prioritized analysis of municipalities and milder-than-expected impacts from the El Niño-induced drought. However, protection services for communities affected by human mobility remain critical.

The Humanitarian Response Plan is based on collectively identified shocks driving humanitarian needs: human mobility and adverse weather conditions. Planned activities will provide an intersectoral response, prioritizing food-insecure people and communities with continued protection needs.

Response activities are designed to complement the country’s ongoing development projects and government efforts.

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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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