EcoViva: how politics can impact the work

Read this recent blog from our beneficiary partner, EcoViva, about how politics can affect the work we do. Many factors beyond our control affect service work, but we adapt. We continue to work for the communities in which we are invested. And, #HumanismAtWork is a powerful thing.

"Voters in El Salvador went to the polls on Sunday after a hard-fought presidential campaign featuring three main candidates; Hugo Martínez of the leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN), Nayib Bukele on the ticket for the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) party, and Carlos Calleja of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Despite low voter turnout, Nayib Bukele won 53% of the vote and will be El Salvador’s next president.

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Bukele’s presidency poses a potential challenge to many of the policies enacted that support the marginalized and rural communities we work with. His administration will have the ability to pass a water privatization law, reverse the amendments to the current telecommunications law which guarantee freedom of expression and boost community-based radio, and annul the ban against metallic mining which protects natural resources and in particular the Rio Lempa watershed, in which the vast majority of Salvadorans reside. We are concerned that social investment could decrease for the most vulnerable sectors, environmental conservation regulations could be reversed, and climate change mitigation and adaptation may no longer be a policy priority. EcoViva and our partners in El Salvador will be applying social pressure to maintain environmental and social policies in place and hold the new administration accountable to their campaign promises."