Dominican Republic
Christian Aid’s Haiti and the Dominican Republic programme spans the island of Hispaniola, and has offices in both Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo
The Haiti/DR programme is a bi-national programme working in five departments in Haiti and at least 14 provinces in the Dominican Republic (DR).
Christian Aid strongly believes in reinforcing local capacity of local NGOs to render a lasting impact of CA’s work in both countries.
We aim to improve the lives of the most vulnerable by providing a voice to those who are often marginalised, specifically rural women.
In both countries, we support work on agriculture, human rights, climate change, tax and budget monitoring, and corruption.
We are one joint programme with the Haiti office.
- To improve gender equity in Haiti and the DR and reduce gender-based violence;
- To help displaced persons and deported Haitian migrants returned from the DR to meet their basic needs for food, water, clothing, health, shelter;
- To reduce the loss of life and material prior to and following a natural disaster through reducing risks by raising awareness on how people can protect themselves, through evacuation and improving shelter;
- To improve the quality of life of farming communities by increasing people's knowledge of climate change, implementing adaptation measures, and advocating for the rights of the people of the DR;
- To reduce trafficking of children out of Haiti.
Born in Dominican Republic, Milciades Yam has struggled for many years to get full recognition as a Dominican citizen. He is of Haitian descent, and this means that the authorities tie the process of getting access to his documents with red tape. In his spare time Milciades volunteers at a local school.
The children have so few resources, and I see them as brothers and sisters. They are of Haitian descent, just like me.
- Milciades Yam, Local volunteer.
In the Dominican Republic we work on...
Climate change
Our climate change work aims to strengthen environmental promotion and protection on the Haiti/DR border.
In particular, we work to empower youth and strengthen community-based organisations to continue their work in favour of the environment.
Incredible new momentum has been reached among the population by creating awareness of the importance of caring for natural resources.
Gender and inequality
We aim to empower women and vulnerable groups to raise their voice and help them access their basic rights.
On a national scale, our work on tax justice involves monitoring the national budget, promoting transparency and fighting against corruption.
This is linked to our work towards equality, providing access to fundamental rights such as education and improving the health of the general population and vulnerable groups.
Humanitarian response
We support vulnerable communities to prepare for and respond to humanitarian crises through disaster risk reduction and immediate recovery efforts.
Where we work and who we work with
Our work has national level influence in the Dominican Republic and our projects are working with local communities and organisations.
We are closely linked with the Haiti programme, and together we work across the island of Hispaniola, with offices in both Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo.
We also draw on the expertise of global colleagues and work closely with the ACT Alliance.
Key achievements
The bi-national Haiti/DR programme has led to better communication and relations between border provinces and local governments on subjects including markets and migration issues between the two countries.
We are advocating for greater tax transparency and more accountability on how the national budget is spent. We have supported 17 local organisations who to increase their awareness of climate change by engaging with local clubs and youth leaders.
Our work is also supporting a movement, which looks to improve access to health services for vulnerable groups including the LGBTI community, people with limited access to medication, and migrants.
To protect the rights of Haitian migrants and of Dominicans of Haitian decent living in the DR
Bi-national project funded by European Union
The project aims to:
- Strengthen, assist and protect the rights of those deported to Haiti from the DR;
- Increase communication around migration policies between Haiti and the DR in accordance with international laws;
- Increase the capacity and raise awareness among local Dominican organisations about the rights of Dominicans of Haitian descent.
- Increase awareness in both countries of the rights of the Haitian and Dominican migrants.
To foster the 'right to health' of the most vulnerable populations in the Dominican Republic
Project funded by European Union
This project advocates for norms, policies and practices that guarantee all people to vital health services, including groups such as the LGBTI community, women, children and migrants.
The project aims to:
- Improve the knowledge about rights to health and social security, and around the obligations the Dominican government should observe;
- Create dialogue between civil society, public health authorities and private health service providers;
- Strengthen the capacities of groups to be able to influence health policies in order to generate changes that impact the quality of health care, especially for the most vulnerable people in the DR.
