Publication: Case Study 3 - El Salvador : Participation in Macroeconomic Policy Making and Reform
Date
2003-03
ISSN
Published
2003-03
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
1992 was both a year of bitterness and
hope. A decade of civil war had devastated the country but
left no clear winner or loser; it was time to try peace. The
governing ARENA party and the FMLN rebels signed peace
accords requiring the demobilization of the FMLN and its
incorporation into the political process in return for
democratic reforms by state institutions. The need for
"concertaci?n" or consensual-decisionmaking was
often invoked but, given deep divisions, not easily
achieved. Cecilia Gallardo de Cano had been in office since
1989 as Minister of Education and her country was changing
quickly. Her party's most vociferous opponents were
coming down from the mountains and into the office buildings
and conference rooms of San Salvador. She was a reform
proponent from the "modernizing" wing of the
conservative ARENA party. Her ministry, perhaps more than
any other, found a way to reach across the chasm of distrust
and build effective partnerships for reform. The Ministry of
Education (MOE) quickly identified expanding access to and
quality of basic education as a central policy objective
both to rebuild national unity in the post-war era and to
promote the long-term economic development.
Citation
“World Bank. 2003. Case Study 3 - El Salvador : Participation in Macroeconomic Policy Making and Reform. Social Development Notes; No. 79. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/ec0a0e2d-9754-568e-ae7e-daaf8aa7606d License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”