Dominican Republic

The Dominican Replublic occupies almost 2/3 of the Caribbean island, La Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. With 9.4 million people, the Dominican Republic has been one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the Caribbean in the last decade. Important improvements in the social conditions have set the country on the path toward achieving Millennium Development Goals, but a huge gap exists in efforts to combat poverty and translate economic growth into poverty reduction and opportunities to enhance employment and productivity of the poor.

Official reports from 2004 indicated that 42 of 100 Dominicans were poor, with over 16 living in extreme ppoverty. The inequality of income and inflation levels have contributed to increasing poverty levels. The devastation of homes and livelihoods experienced in the recent storms have affected nearly 90% of the population. Unofficial estimates of increased vulnerability of the poor indicate that in current conditions nearly 60 percent of Dominicans now are approaching poverty, with nearly 30 percent living at or below $1 per day.

JumpStart International is planning to participate in the recovery efforts in the Dominican Repbulic to rehabilitate and reconstruct homes, livelihoods, and services of affected people whose lives were devastated by Tropical Storm Noel. Through income-generating projects, JumpStart will support vulnerable households by employing residents in areas that have been most affected providing opportunities for them to be involved in the planning and preparation of rebuilding their communities.

JumpStart will determine skills training and economic development needs of the affected communities, and seek to leverage additional funding for training and development activities to improve the future employability and income-generation potential so people can achieve their potential and build livelihoods to support their families.