HAITI / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLAN 2020 Countries’ Profiles
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MAAHT002 / Appeal numbers MAA49004 5,270,000 / Swiss francs 2,430,000 funding requirement 20,000 / People to be reached 200,000 10,000 / Volunteers country-wide 20,000 2 National Societies supported HAITI / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IFRC Country Office 2020 BACKGROUND Countries’ Profiles The humanitarian corridor that comprises the island of the Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is the perfect opportunity to apply a twin approach to address the humanitarian needs of the communities of both countries. Haiti Haiti, situated on the western side of the island of Hispaniola and with a population of 10,579,230 inhabitants, is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. 59% of its population lives beneath the poverty line and over 24% live in extreme poverty. A high level of inequality, a fiscal deficit that is expected to widen, and slowing economic growth make it a challenge to address such poverty rates (World Bank 2017). The current socio-economic crisis and civil unrest has hampered efficiency of public policies and public services. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2 HAITI / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLAN 2020 COUNTRIES’ PROFILES Climate change plays an important role in Haiti, given that the country is in a hurricane-prone zone highly vulnerable to other natural disasters such as floods, droughts and earthquakes. On January 12th, 2010, the country was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people, left 1.5 million people homeless and produced such devastation that it led to a humanitarian crisis, to which the entire world responded immediately. Among its consequences, the spread of cholera, due to the lack of clean water, killed thousands of those who had survived (Huffington Post 2017). The country was still not fully recovered from the impact of the 2010 earthquake when, on October 4th, 2016, it was struck by category 4 hurricane Matthew, which left 2.1 million people affected. As per the UN Humanitarian Needs Overview 2019, due to high levels of poverty and chronic food insecurity combined with natural hazards, acute malnutrition is also prevalent in Haiti and will affect some 39,000 children in 2019. The prev- alence of acute malnutrition can be as high as 10%. The Haitian institute for Statistics and Computing (Institut Haitien de statistique et d’informatique; IHSI) reported in August 2019,1 that the Consumer Price index showed a monthly increase of 1.6%; and a yearly increase of 19.5% across all prices monitored. Haiti is facing ongoing social unrest since July 2018 with the mobilization of demonstrations against the rising cost of oil products and the high cost of living. Security conditions in the country have continued to deteriorate resulting in the closure of hospitals, schools, humanitarian organizations, government institu- tions, embassies and businesses, and has made it very hard to deliver human- itarian assistance to the population. Haiti has received significant international aid to respond to the numerous disasters, but there is growing donor fatigue following the limited results reached on structural issues. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 3 HAITI / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLAN 2020 COUNTRIES’ PROFILES Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic, located on the eastern side of the island of Hispaniola, is a middle-income developing country, that, as reported in the 2010 Census of the National Statistics Office, has a population of 9,445,281 people. For the past two decades, this country has been one of the fastest growing economies of the Americas (World Bank), with an annual average growth rate of 5.4% (UNDP2012). The economy has undergone a shift towards the service sector, focusing on tourism, free trade zones, remittances and foreign investment, among others (UNDP2012). However, this economic growth and human development have not been accom- panied by an effective solution to reduce inequality. Although in the past two years there has been a reduction in poverty, it has not been as significant as the economic growth and, thus, the levels of extreme poverty are still very high. In addition, the Dominican Republic is dealing with a wave of migrants from Venezuela, who are fleeing the difficult social, economic and political climate in their country. This adds to the migration of Haitians that the country has faced for decades, still one of the main issues to be solved today. The Dominican Republic is within the fifteen most vulnerable countries to climate change, which has been confirmed recently by the drought and unusual rainy seasons, aside from the natural hazards linked to its geographical location. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 4 HAITI / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLAN 2020 NATIONAL SOCIETY PROFILES National Society Profiles Haitian Red Cross Society 14 branches carry out activities with around 10,000 registered volunteers and approximately 308 (139 male and 169 female) staff members. The Haitian Red Cross Society (HRCS) has transitioned from a large-scale post-earthquake operation to one where the focus is on development programming and insti- tutional capacity building. The current strategic plan, aligned to Strategy 2020, covers the 2016–2020 period. Priorities for HRCS are: Volunteer Development, Health, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, Water and Sanitation, Resource Mobilization, and income generation through support services. The priorities and business model of the HRCS has faced adjustments to better respond to the challenges, while also focusing on the financial sustainability of their model. The National Society is also focusing on supporting the Ministry of Health in cholera prevention, response, and eradication in the country. The Haitian Red Cross currently operates an ambulance fleet for the West/Metropolitan area that provides first aid and transport to the people injured during events within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Haitian Red Cross has been engaged in response operations to the current civil unrest situation. It designed and implemented contingency plans to best monitor and respond while maintaining constant mobilization throughout the events. Dominican Red Cross Dominican Red Cross (DRC) was admitted to the IFRC in 1931. In 2016, it counted 20,000 active volunteers (up from 6,021 in 2011). It has 178 operational branches in all provinces of the Dominican Republic with 634 paid staff. The DRC’s work focuses on disaster risk reduction through the support of the national disaster management system at the municipal and community level, and on health with three blood banks and support to pre-hospital care as well as community health activities. The National Society is strengthening its migration program to support migrants in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Red Cross is working towards improving disaster response throughout the country with a decentralization process of disaster response at the province level. In addition, the Haitian and Dominican Republic Red Cross National Societies, in alignment with their respective humanitarian mandates and in accordance with the Fundamental Principles and International Red Cross Movement Policies, the Strategy 2020, the Seville Agreement, the Interamerican Framework for Action, the Houston Interamerican Conference Plan of Action, and the Collaboration Agreement subscribed between both National Societies in December 2013, agreed to the implementation of the Red Cross Bi-national Cooperation Plan of Action 2015–2016. With the aim of furthering the effectiveness and impact of their actions, they have joined resources and capacities, together with other International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 5 HAITI / DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLAN 2020 ROLE OF THE CLUSTER OFFICE possible actors, fulfilling their humanitarian auxiliary role to the governments, specifically in the areas of Health, Water and Sanitation, and Migration, under the motto “Together for Humanity”. Role of the Cluster Office The IFRC Country Cluster Support Team (CCST) has a Head of Cluster and a technical team who provide institutional support to National Societies, as well as technical support in risk reduction management and volunteer development. Furthermore, the IFRC supports these two National Societies by facilitating coor- dination within the Movement and with external partners. Movement partners adhere to and work within a framework of coordination as stated in the revised Movement Coordination Framework (MCF) between the HRCS, ICRC and the IFRC along with PNS in country. Movement partners in Haiti are operating within the framework of a Tripartite Agreement signed between HRCS, IFRC and ICRC in November 2019. The IFRC and National Societies work closely with the national Departments of Civil Protection to coordinate and respond during disasters, and with the Ministries of Public Health for health-related interventions. Collaboration with the government and international humanitarian actors, including NGOs and the United Nations system, takes place through the various coordination mechanisms. Movement Footprint Coordination of Red Cross Movement partners makes it possible to maximize human, material and financial resources in order to support the response oper- ations of the Haitian and Dominican Red Cross Societies. Currently, there are eight Partners National Societies (PNS) supporting opera- tions in Haiti - American Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross, German