Programa Velasco (PV) proposed project supports women and girls in urban San Ramón and rural Tepecoyo, El Salvador, where poverty, entrenched gender inequality, trauma, and the ongoing effects of the State of Exception continue to shape daily life. In this environment, many women experience chronic stress, social isolation, restricted mobility, unequal power dynamics, and limited access to healthcare, mental health services, and economic opportunities. These conditions can reduce women’s ability to participate fully in decisions affecting their wellbeing, livelihoods, families, and futures.

PV responds to these challenges through integrated, community-based programming that combines entrepreneurship and leadership development, mental health counseling, healthcare access, psychosocial accompaniment, and family support within trusted local settings. Women often first engage through parenting or economic empowerment activities and continue accessing broader services as relationships and confidence deepen over time.

Across all programs, PV seeks to strengthen women’s economic participation, emotional wellbeing, healthcare access, leadership, and decision-making power while reducing isolation and increasing long-term stability for women, girls, and families. By creating spaces where women build skills, connection, and agency together, PV supports women in exercising greater control over their lives and participating more actively within their households and communities.