“El Salvador in the World”: Developing a Diaspora Engagement Strategy for the Salvadoran diaspora
El Salvador is home to a large and diverse diaspora. These diaspora communities are not only crucial sources of remittances – which represent over 23% of the country’s GDP – but also represent a skilled workforce in areas such as business, technology, healthcare, and education.
To strengthen ties with these compatriots and acknowledge their contributions, the government established the Viceministry of Diaspora and Human Mobility (VMDMH) in 2021, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The purpose of this institution is to provide a direct communication channel between Salvadorans abroad and the government, allowing for more effective interaction and quicker responses to their needs and proposals. The VMDMH is tasked with coordinating and articulating public policies, humanitarian assistance, reintegration, and development for the mobile population.
Building on the initiatives launched in recent years, El Salvador has made important progress in strengthening its engagement with the diaspora, particularly in improving outreach and service delivery. At the same time, there is an opportunity to further consolidate these efforts within a more structured and coordinated framework that enhances long-term impact, coherence, and institutional sustainability.
In this context, there is a need to advance towards a coordinated, inclusive, and forward-looking Diaspora Engagement Strategy that brings together existing initiatives and provides clear guidance for future action. Strengthening tools for monitoring and evaluation, as well as mechanisms to systematically integrate diaspora input into policymaking, will further support these efforts.
This project responds directly to these priorities by supporting the development of a structured Diaspora Engagement Strategy through a participatory process. It places strong emphasis on collaboration with public institutions, while also ensuring the active involvement of diaspora communities and civil society throughout the consultation, design, and implementation phases. In doing so, it contributes to strengthening institutional capacity and fostering sustained, transparent, and inclusive engagement.
Programme of activities
A desk study of diaspora engagement strategies, policies and institutional models to extract actionable practices on governance/coordination, service delivery and consular outreach, participation mechanisms (incl. women, youth and second/third generations), investment and skills-transfer schemes, and M&E approaches.
An examination, through a combination of desk research and online and in-person consultations with public institutions, of El Salvador’s current frameworks, programmes, and initiatives for diaspora engagement. This will include the review of policies and regulations, the identification of institutional strengths and gaps, and consultations with key public entities.
Exchanges with members of the Salvadoran diaspora will be organised to understand their needs, challenges, and priorities.
Exchanges involving civil society organisations, academic institutions, and the private sector. These stakeholders will be consulted to gather recommendations on how the diaspora can contribute more effectively to national development, and to identify areas for future collaboration.
This will include consolidating diagnostic data, identifying strategic priorities, and structuring the document around actionable objectives and indicators.
Sessions will serve to present, revise, and endorse the strategy draft. The collaborative nature of this process ensures institutional ownership and alignment, as well as readiness for subsequent steps in publication, dissemination, and implementation.
The validated strategy document will be transformed into accessible, visually engaging formats to ensure broad dissemination among stakeholders, including diaspora communities, public institutions, and development partners.
Workshops targeting diaspora organisations and individuals will be organised. These workshops will be held in two cities with high Salvadoran diaspora concentration, and will focus on introducing the strategy, its pillars, and exploring how diaspora actors can contribute to its implementation.
These sessions will highlight inter-institutional coordination mechanisms and explore practical steps for integrating diaspora engagement into their work.
Specifically targeting those in regions not covered by in-person sessions (e.g. North America, Latin America). These sessions will ensure broad geographic reach and allow for participation of diverse profiles, including women and youth leaders.
A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework will be designed to track the implementation and impact of the Diaspora Engagement Strategy. To ensure the framework is usable and sustainable, the project will also prepare a light MEL roadmap.