USAID is working with the Dominican government to build partnerships with civil society, implementing partners, the private sector, donors, community leaders, and beneficiaries to identify and address challenges to citizen security and to stimulate economic growth for long-term sustainability. Strengthening these partnerships and addressing these challenges will help the Dominican Republic continues to progress on its journey to self-reliance.
Climate Resilience
USAID is working to increase communities' resilience to the impacts of climate shocks in order to reduce insecurity and economic losses caused by the havoc of catastrophic weather events. To achieve this objective, USAID provides training to local and national government and non-governmental organization staff to improve information management, municipal land use planning, climate smart agriculture, and the implementation of small-scale adaptation actions. USAID is integrating climate data into municipal land use planning to protect water sources and reduce disaster risks in key municipalities. USAID is also strengthening the capacity of local governments to gather, manage, and use climate information and implement on-the-ground measures. In addition, USAID is implementing a regional program that preserves the conservation of unique species and ecosystems.
Crime Prevention
USAID works both at the community and institutional level to address youth crime and violence prevention. USAID helps youth at risk of crime and violence by encouraging them to stay in school or helping them go back to school if they have dropped out. Activities include vocational training and job placement services, as well as assistance in obtaining identification documents that are required to study and work. At the institutional level, USAID targets the judiciary by working with the police, prosecutors, judges, and civil society organizations to improve law enforcement’s effectiveness in shaping the enabling environment to preventing crime.
USAID works with students in early grades to improve the quality of education and increase the ability of students to read and develop other basic skills to strengthen protective factors from crime and violence. USAID also works with vulnerable populations to increase their economic and civic participation skills to reduce risk factors of victimization and abuse and to encourage an enabling environment of accountability for crime prevention.
HIV/AIDS and Public Health
USAID, in coordination with the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is collaborating with the Dominican government to control the HIV epidemic. USAID’s efforts are focused on the development of community and facility-based service delivery models that provide quality health services for key populations with the highest HIV prevalence. These include female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender individuals, and migrants. Through improved patient identification, quality clinical services, and community-based support, combined with focused efforts to improve supply chain management and human resources for health, USAID expects to establish models in the public sector that can be transferred for national scale-up and the strengthening of local systems.
Local Works
USAID/DR's Local Works program targets the socio-economic vulnerabilities of the DR/Haiti border region. USAID is improving the livelihoods along the Dominican border through local engagement, cooperation, and building on community assets; these efforts work to reduce regional inequalities that drive high poverty rates and strengthen the region’s resilience to economic shocks that weaken licit activities and trade. This process is informed and led by local actors, youth networks, cooperatives, local private sector entities, local and international non-profits, community-based organizations, and Peace Corps Volunteers located along the border.
