Publication

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Salvadorian state's humanitarian response to the natural disasters that affected the region in 2001 and 2005. The author determines that the state's humanitarian system was insufficient in both cases, but that decentralized tactics to distribute aid, adopted for the 2005 disaster proved somewhat effective. Moreover, the author highlights the exacerbating link between poverty and natural disasters and concludes by listing some general recommendations for increased aid coordination as well as a series of more specific recommendations.