El Salvador has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries in Latin America with regard to climate-related disasters. The country is particularly sensitive to the negative impacts of climate change due to its location (on the narrow part of the Central American isthmus, exposing it to weather systems in both Pacific and the Caribbean/ Atlantic), which increases the probability of extreme weather events being experienced. In addition, the effects of climate change are exacerbated by the extent of El Salvador‟s social, economic, and environmental problems (deforestation, and poor communities with inadequate housing located on critical slopes in ravines and gullies). This situation constrains effective responses to extreme weather events and magnifies the consequences of lack of preparedness and inaction at the community level.                               
           
The overall goal of the project is to increase climate resilience in El Salvador through implementation of concrete adaptation measures in the most vulnerable urban areas, supported with appropriate policy and regulatory development, and to disseminate best practices demonstrated therein for eventual replication throughout El Salvador, and perhaps other parts of Central America. More specifically, the main objective of the project is to reduce the vulnerability of selected urban areas in the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador to flooding, erosion, and landslides created by extreme precipitation associated with current climate variability and expected climate change in the near future. This will be achieved through three project components:
           

• The design and construction of resilient infrastructure (at two locations in the MASS) that can resist and mitigate the impacts of extreme events (improved storm water management, capture, and aquifer recharge). Current interventions to address water flow are focused on downstream measures designed to prevent major erosion or flooding. As noted previously, such measures are becoming very expensive and mostly ineffective, as they can hardly cope with one or two major events. The project will therefore incorporate a broader approach to water management that also addresses upstream measures necessary to reduce peak flows and the stress on current drainage infrastructure. The proposed approach will also reduce the necessity to relocate large numbers of people. It is expected that the project will catalyze new paths of growth in the MASS and other urban communities in the country, reducing their vulnerability and enhancing their resilience to the negative impacts of climate change.
• Institutional strengthening, including improved policy guidelines, more appropriate building standards and codes, and more effective coordination of private and public stakeholders, to increase the climate resilience of vulnerable communities in El Salvador.
• Related knowledge management and dissemination, to increase the public awareness of climate resilient options for future public and private construction in urban areas.