El Salvador, UN sign understanding memorandum on aid

The Salvadorian government and the United Nations (UN) signed Thursday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and a 186-million-dollar agreement for 2007-2011.

The MOU was signed by Salvadorian Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez and UN coordinator in El Salvador, Jessica Faieta.

The 186 million dollars under the agreement for the period 2007-2011 will be used to "strengthen and improve" efforts in democratic governance, economic development, fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals, social development, environment protection and risk management, Faieta said.

The MOU also includes cooperation on the government's new priorities, including universal social security, a national statistics system and food security.

Faieta said that a review of the UN-El Salvador cooperation over the past three years indicated about 40 million dollars per year were granted to execute different projects.

"These programs are part of a long and valuable history of cooperation, which has united our country with agencies of the UN, with a very productive link regarding development achievements," Martinez said.

Source: Xinhua