A total of 24 highly vulnerable communities located in the Jaltepeque estuary, Jiquilisco bay and the lower Lempa river will have early warning systems to reduce the impact of flooding.

As part of the Disaster Risk Reduction Project of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Regional Office for Latin America in the flood-prone areas of Honduras and El Salvador, a partnership agreement has been signed with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) in El Salvador. Targeting the objective of saving lives, two community-based Flood Early Warning Systems will be installed in 24 flood-prone communities. In this manner, in case of imminent floods, affected people can be brought to safety prematurely. The beneficiary communities of La Paz, San Vincente and Usulután municipalities face floods each year caused by excessive rainfalls typical of the autumn months.

The aim of the agreement is to ensure the long-term sustainability of Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS). This action requires the integration of these local systems into the national civil protection network and the strengthening of relations between local organizations and the ministry. Therefore, ASB, through its local partner organization CORDES has signed the agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador. Other ASB project partners in El Salvador are Civil Protection of El Salvador and Action Aid – Spain.

The communities are located between the municipalities of San Luis La Herradura and Zacatecoluca, in the department of La Paz; Tecoluca, in the department of San Vicente; Jiquilisco, San Dionisio and Puerto El Triunfo, in the department of Usulután; and which are located in the Jaltepeque estuary and the Jiquilisco bay.

In addition, the project includes the construction of 30 small scale and replicable installations to reduce flood damage and protect livelihoods at community level, as well as the construction, strengthening and equipping of Disaster Management Committees at local, district and school level. At the same time, there is a particular emphasis on the effective inclusion of people with disabilities and older people in Disaster Risk Reduction at all levels.

The project is mainly funded by the German Foreign Ministry, the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) y and has overall budget of 2.4 million Euros. The project implementation started in May 2016 and will end December 2019.