Study on Collaboration and Support Opportunities for Communities in the Border Area between the Dominican Republic and Haiti (Border Assessment: USAID/Dominican Republic Local Works Program)
Summary — This report presents findings from a USAID-commissioned study on collaboration and support opportunities for communities in the Dominican Republic-Haiti border region. The study identifies needs and opportunities for the Local Works program, focusing on improving services in health, education, water/sanitation, gender-based violence, and child protection.
Key Findings
- The Dominican Republic has a complex, centralized system for planning and budgeting with limited local participation.
- Service delivery in health, education, and water sectors faces challenges related to infrastructure, staffing, and resource allocation.
- Language barriers and lack of specialized personnel hinder access to services for Haitian migrants.
- Opportunities exist to collaborate with civil society organizations, cooperatives, and development agencies to address community needs.
- Incomplete decentralization of government constitutes a major obstacle to efficient functioning of government and provision of key services.
Full Description
The USAID/Dominican Republic Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Platform conducted a study in 2019 to identify needs and opportunities for collaboration with communities in the Dominican-Haitian border region. The study focused on five key sectors: health and primary care, initial and primary education, water and basic sanitation, attention to gender-based violence, and child protection. Researchers used a qualitative approach, reviewing documents and conducting interviews with 179 people in Santo Domingo and border provinces. The study analyzed the structure, resource distribution, and coordination of services, documented how national programs are delivered locally, and assessed opportunities for collaboration with civil society, public, and private sector partners.