Comunidades Solidarias Rurales (formerly Red Solidaria)
Comunidades Solidarias Rurales was El Salvador's national conditional cash transfer program, launched in 2005 as Red Solidaria and renamed in 2009. Run by the Presidency (Technical Secretariat) and the Fondo de Inversion Social para el Desarrollo Local (FISDL), it paid bimonthly cash bonuses to mothers of children under 5, school-age children, and pregnant women in the country's poorest rural municipalities and, from 2009, poor urban settlements, conditional on school attendance and health check-ups. It was funded by the Salvadoran government together with loans and grants from the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and bilateral donors (Spain/AECID, Luxembourg, European Union, Andalusia). The program operated 2005-2016 before being folded into successor social protection strategies, and FISDL itself was dissolved by legislative decree effective January 1, 2022.
Conditional Cash Transfer, Rural Poverty, El Salvador, Central America, Maternal and Child Health, Education Bonus
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Fondo de Inversión Social para el Desarrollo Local (FISDL)
- City
- San Salvador
- State / Province
- San Salvador
- Country
- El Salvador
Contact
- Website
- http://www.fisdl.gob.sv/
- Phone
- +503 2133 1200
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Inactive
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 100,000
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 720 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 20 USD
- Payment frequency
- Variable
- How long the program lasts
- 36 months
- Distribution Type
- Cash (distributed at public community events)
- Benefit details
Transfers were paid bimonthly (every two months) in cash at public community events rather than by bank deposit. The Education Bonus (children 5-15 rural, 6-15 urban) and Health Bonus (children under 5 and pregnant/breastfeeding women) each paid roughly US$15/month; a household receiving both bonuses received a combined US$20/month, capped at one transfer per household. Benefits were suspended for more than four unexcused school absences per month, or for missing two consecutive (or three within 12 months) health conditionalities. Families could remain in the program for a maximum of about 3 years, with recertification via a new census every 10 years.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Targeted extremely poor families with children under 21 and/or pregnant women, selected through geographic targeting (the 100 rural municipalities with 'severe' or 'high' extreme poverty on the national poverty map, later expanded to 412 precarious urban settlements in 25 municipalities), a proxy-means test (Quality of Life Index of the Unique Registry of Participants), and categorical criteria (presence of young children or pregnant women in the household). No open, individual application process existed; families were identified and enrolled via government census and registry.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 0
- Maximum age
- 21
- Education level
- Preschool, Elementary, Middle School, High School
Family
- Family Status
- Parent, Expecting
Geography
- Countries covered
- El Salvador
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Programa de Apoyo Temporal al Ingreso (PATI) and Nuestros Mayores Derechos (elderly pension/support) operated alongside CSR as related but separate FISDL programs, not required for CSR bono recipients.
Application Process
- How to apply
There was no open individual application process. FISDL and the Technical and Planning Secretariat of the Presidency (SETEPLAN/STP) conducted household censuses in geographically targeted extremely poor rural municipalities and poor urban settlements, and eligible families were entered into the Unique Registry of Participants (RUP) and the Registry of Participating Families.
- Selection process
Selection combined (1) geographic targeting using the Integrated Index of Municipal Marginality / poverty map to choose the 100 rural municipalities and, from 2009, the Map of Urban Poverty and Social Exclusion for 412 precarious urban settlements in 25 municipalities; (2) a proxy-means test using the Quality of Life Index from the Unique Registry of Participants (means testing did not apply in municipalities with 'severe' extreme poverty); and (3) categorical criteria requiring presence of a child under 21 and/or a pregnant woman in the household.
