Dominican Republic

Vocational Training

WER has been working with Integración Juvenil (IJ) for the past 10 years to improve the quality of life of underprivileged children living in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Over the course of these 10 years, hundreds of children have benefited from WER funded programmes. Despite tremendous success with these programmes, many young people who have completed IJ’s programmes have struggled to acquire jobs. Many of these young people need to work in order to support their families.

Social Work

Domestic violence and bad role models have a profound impact on children’s lives and can lead them to mimic this behaviour when they are adults. IJ’s social work programme seeks to help children and young people that have grown up in troubled circumstances to break this cycle.

Child Safety Programme

WER is working in partnership with Integracion Juvenil (IJ) to reach out to vulnerable young people in the Dominican Republic.

Twice a week children from some of the poorest communities in Puerto Plata are given a healthy and nutritious breakfast by IJ. At the same time they are introduced to the activities that many young people are benefiting from at the IJ Centre and can meet with friends in a safe and caring environment.

Education

Despite being well known as a tourist destination, poverty is common in the Dominican Republic and its effects severe. For over 10 years, WER has been working with our partner Integración Juvenil (IJ) in Puerto Plata, supporting projects that aim at helping underprivileged children into mainstream education and away from life on the streets. Since it was founded in 1978, IJ has been able to help thousands of children integrate back into a standardized educational setting and provide them with a brighter future.

Total population (millions): 10

Life expectancy at birth (years): 73.9

Adult literacy rate (% age 15 and above): 87

GDP per capita (PPP US$): 8,300

Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (%): 73.5

The Dominican Republic in the Caribbean was once ruled by Spain and shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. It is a major tourist destination and tourism is a key source of employment and revenue for the country.

The countries president Leonel Fernandez won his third term in office in May 2008. He is making the country’s economy a priority by cutting spending and securing money loans from the IMF. But the benefits of a stronger economy are not being felt by everyone.

Despite a booming tourist industry, the Dominican Republic remains one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean. There is a huge disparity in wealth between the rich white land owners who are descendants of Spanish settlers and poor people of African descent. It is estimated that a quarter of the population live below the poverty line. Many people live in unhygienic slum settlements and children from poor families often have limited access to formal education.

Up to one million Haitians live and work in the Dominican Republic, often illegally. This has caused problems between the 2 countries and the Dominican Republic government has had to deport many Haitian settlers.

Agriculture remains an important sector in terms of domestic consumption and export earnings for Dominicans, with sugar, coffee and tobacco among the main exports.

The most recent Human Development Report ranks Dominican Republic at 90, with a medium human development rating status. The Human Development Index (HDI) value is 0.777 compared to the HDI of the UK, which is 0.947.

WER works in the Dominican Republic in partnership with Integracion Juvenil (IJ)