Help Children in El Salvador

Much progress has been made through the hard work of the Salvadoran people, as well as government agencies and charities. Child mortality – the number of boys and girls who die before their fifth birthday – has been reduced by almost half since 2000. However, rural poverty and high rates of violence and homicide are putting El Salvador's children at risk.

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EMERGENCY ALERT

Innocent children have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, gangs and crushing poverty in Latin America. After a dangerous journey, thousands of children seeking asylum have been heartbreakingly separated from their mothers and fathers when they reach the U.S. border.

How Save the Children Is Helping

Our teams in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico are providing education, protection and peace-building programs. What’s more, we’re empowering vulnerable families and communities to build resilience, improve food security and so much more to ensure that no child goes hungry.

Here in the U.S., we’re working to help protect children, uphold their rights and meet their critical immediate needs in collaboration with trusted agencies. Together, we can keep children safe and well-cared for until they can be reunited with loved ones.

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The Challenge for Children in El Salvador

Suffering from poverty and without access to education or healthcare, children in El Salvador need your help.*

  • 33% of people live in poverty
  • 1 child in 67 dies before their 5th birthday - 2 times that of the United States
  • 14% of children suffer from stunting due to malnutrition
  • 23% of school-age children are out of school
  • 9% of children are engaged in child labor
  • 16% of girls age 15-19 are married
  • 1 in 14 girls between age 15-19 gives birth
  • 14% of girls age 15 and older struggle to read or write
Map of El Salvador

Our Work for Children in El Salvador

To help families feed their children, we provide struggling farming families with seeds, livestock, tools and temporary jobs so they can improve their agricultural skills. Our supporters’ generosity has helped children and their families in many ways including health, education, emergency response and violence-prevention initiatives. For example, 9 out of 10 children attending our early childhood development program successfully reached first grade.

Since 1980, Save the Children in El Salvador has worked with local communities and organizations to design programs for kids. Targeted to help children from early childhood to early adulthood, our programs work to make a healthy and safe environment where children can learn and grow. Our supporters help us nurture healthy moms and healthy babies by providing access to high-impact, low-cost care, working to stop preventable deaths in both mothers and children.

Early childhood experts help prepare toddlers and young children for school by giving them access to quality preschools and early literacy programs. For elementary schoolers, teachers and education staff work to transform students into lifelong learners by building strong curriculums and passionate teachers. Working with teenagers, caring staff focus on that challenging transition between childhood and adulthood, helping ensure it’s a positive one by teaching them money, job and relationship skills.

Our supporters also help provide health education and care to children in need through our school health programs to help children stay healthy, well-nourished and in school. Thanks to the generous support from our community of supporters, these essential programs in El Salvador continue to give children a healthy start and the opportunity to learn, protecting them from harm along the way.

  • Protected 14,022 children from harm
  • Supported 55,956 children in times of crisis
  • Provided 129,036 children with a healthy start in life
  • Supported 900 parents to provide for their children’s basic needs
  • Gave 2,820 children vital nourishment

How to Help Children in El Salvador

A healthy newborn, a brand new, one-day-old baby, here in his colorful aguayo, and his mother Liseth are alive and thriving, thanks to the support of Save the Children's vital work in Bolivia. Photo Credit: Susan Warner/Save the Children 2015.

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Support Save the Children’s mission. Donate to help children in El Salvador, and around the world, survive and thrive.

In Cambodia, a young girl stands near the shoreline where debris has washed up.

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Join Team Tomorrow and your monthly donation will go toward addressing the needs of children affected by today’s most urgent issues. 

A great way to donate! Chickens and goats give much-needed protein to help maintain the health of children. When additional animals arrive, so do more milk and eggs, giving families a way to earn income. Photo Credit: Save the Children 2016.

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Sources: * Unless otherwise noted, facts and statistics have been sourced from Save the Children’s monitoring and evaluation experts and from the 2019 Global Childhood Report. You can access detailed data here. Other sources as follows: Population: CIA World Factbook; The World Bank, 2016; Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS)

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