Closing the feedback loop in the consultation process is important for stakeholders. El Salvador has been an exemplary model for broad consultations due to the work of the National Commission for Development (CND is the Spanish acronym). This diverse commission was formed to design a national strategy for development and, prior to Compact Development, undertook 57 workshops and met with 14 regional assemblies to cull the opinions of a variety of stakeholders. These suggestions and discussions were recorded and fed into the decision making process to focus the MCC programming on the Northern Zone. However, at the end of the process, information about what had been included in the compact and what had not was not communicated to those who participated. This disconnect was partly due to the change in leadership at the accountable entity. Both those in CND and Fomilenio expressed frustration that recalibrating expectations has been difficult to accomplish—with potential beneficiaries still requesting information or workshops on project components that were considered but not included in the compact. In March, the information on the website about participation related to compact development consultations rather than what steps are being taken during implementation to include participation; this delay in posting information related to current consultations impedes clear and timely communication on implementation. The report on consultation released in June is a step in the right direction toward engaging stakeholders throughout implementation and beginning a dialogue as to the most effective means to close the feedback loop.
Communications and outreach strategy needs strengthening. Fomilenios’s communications and outreach strategy is disjointed, and lacks clear guidance on where and how to access accurate program information. For example, during the field visit, a pilot for the productive development program was scheduled to be launched in the town of Perquín in the Northern Zone. Having already been announced to a group of business, NGO, and other representatives in Washington DC, the launch in El Salvador was to be an informative forum through which local investors and beneficiaries could learn of the bidding requirements, the limited scope of the pilot projects, and the process for informing future bidding prospects. But the launch was rescheduled and relocated at the last minute to a room in the Presidential Palace compound in San Salvador. The venue change was communicated only by word-of-mouth. In addition to excluding potential attendees from the Northern Zone who could not travel to the capital on such short notice, the information provided on the pilot program was confusing and misleading. Questions from the few press representatives in the room revealed a lack of understanding of the experimental nature, scale, and scope of the pilot. Fomilenio’s lack of transparency and responsive communications tools—the physical address of the office location is not public, the website is unwieldy, and the communications team did not respond to email inquiries about Fomilenio’s information strategy—will need to be significantly enhanced in order to serve the program well in the long run.
Across the board, it is apparent that managing the tensions between good, broad consultation and efficient, effective implementation will be critical to the success of the compact. Good development and sound implementation will require sustained attention (not just at compact design) to the former and external pressure on the latter.
Next Section: Recommendations