Reproducibility package for Improving lives and livelihoods: Poverty and Equity Assessment for El Salvador 2024

El Salvador faces an important opportunity for improving lives and livelihoods. The recent commendable gains in reducing violence and some improvements in the macroeconomic outlook that made the country reach the mark for being classified by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income country signal a new opportunity. Building on the success story of poverty reduction during the past two decades, El Salvador can improve livelihoods, reversing the recent poverty trends that appeared after the pandemic. For this, it is necessary to strengthen the macro and business environment policy framework to attract larger investments that would allow firms to create more and better jobs. Along with this, it is essential to enhance the functioning of the labor markets and enable the poor to access quality jobs. Well-articulated policies to foster rural development and increase agricultural productivity will also be key. Bearing in mind existing fiscal capacity considerations, poverty alleviation also requires setting up fiscal space for scaling up a well-targeted social protection program and enhancing key services for the urban and rural poor, such as housing, water, sanitation, and food security. Beginning now, but with a medium to long term outlook, it is fundamental to continue working to improve education outcomes for all. Moreover, it will be key to focus on skills development along the life cycle, beyond attendance and graduation targets.