Our projects in DR

Bi-national action to implement changes in Haiti and the Dominican Republic

To promote greater coordination between Haiti and the DR, at local and national level, in order to address common issues and ensure that policies and programmes are implemented which safeguard human rights and promote development opportunities.

Duration: 3 years
Start date: 2010
End date: 2013

Principal local partners:

Dominican Republic:
Bono Centre and Jesuit Service for Refugees and Migrants (SJRM), including the new office in Jimani
Women and Health Collective
Scalabrinian Association at the Service of Human Mobility (ASCALA)
Centro Puente
Inter-institutional Committee of Dajabon (CID)
Cross-border Inter-municipal Committee (CIT)
Dominican Federation of Municipalities (FEDOMU)
12 municipalities

Haiti:
Jesuit Service for Refugees Haiti
GARR (the support group for Haitian refugees and deportees)
8 municipalities

Principal funder(s):
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Canadian Fund
French Embassy

RICA objectives*:

Theme 1: Participation and effective governance
Goal: Poor and marginalised people, especially women, will have greater influence on decisions and policies which affect their lives in order to reduce their poverty.

Objective 1.1 Influencing local government plans and policies.
To empower and promote the voices of poor and marginalised communities, especially women, in order to increase local government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to those communities.

Objective 1.2 Influencing national government plans and policies
To empower and promote the voices of poor and marginalised communities, especially women, in order to increase national government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to those communities.

Expected results:

At counterpart level:

Result 1: Increased capacity of civil society organisations regarding monitoring, advocacy and communications related to bi-national issues.  

Result 2: The capacities of civil society organisations and local authorities have been institutionally increased in areas such as the design and management of projects, participatory budgeting, and development planning, leading to better promotion of economic opportunities and local development with an inclusive, democratic, gender approach.

Result 3: Joint actions are carried out in Haiti and the DR to promote cooperation and bi-national coordination to generate economic opportunities and to safeguard the observance of human rights and gender equality on issues such as: migration policies, nationality legislation, access to documentation, bi-national markets, institutional strengthening, and local/municipal development.

At community level:

Result 4: The Janot Sikse bi-national network has acquired monitoring and communication tools and techniques to safeguard the human rights of immigrants. 

Result 5: The municipalities on both sides of the border have improved the regulations and procedures for the development of bi-national markets. 

Result 6: Immigrants have better and greater access to information about legal matters and the safeguarding of human rights.

Result 7: Three bi-national committees have been set up, which draw together the local civil society organisations and other stakeholders in three border points (North-East/Dajabon, Élias Piña/Central Plateau and Jimaní/Ganthier). These committees meet regularly to discuss bi-national issues and common advocacy plans.

Approx. cost p.a. (pounds sterling): £389,000

Public policies to eradicate poverty and social exclusion

Strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations in political advocacy and communications, in order to increase their ability to effectively negotiate with the State, the political parties and government representatives; analyse political policies; generate alternative information about the issue in question; and put forward reforms at national level in order to reduce poverty and improve gender equality.

Duration: 3 years
Start date: 2010
End date: 2013

Principal local partners:
Father Juan Montalvo sj Centre for Social Studies
SJRM (the Jesuit Service for Refugees and Migrants)

Principal funder(s):
Progressio core funds

RICA objectives*:

Theme 1: Participation and effective governance
Goal: Poor and marginalised people, especially women, will have greater influence on decisions and policies which affect their lives in order to reduce their poverty.

Objective 1.1 Influencing local government plans and policies.
To empower and promote the voices of poor and marginalised communities, especially women, in order to increase local government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to those communities.

Objective 1.2 Influencing national government plans and policies
To empower and promote the voices of poor and marginalised communities, especially women, in order to increase national government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to those communities.

Expected results:

At counterpart level:

Result 1: The counterparts have the capacity to monitor public policies and to draw up and implement advocacy plans which promote social reforms for the reduction of poverty with a gender approach.  

Result 2: The counterparts have the capacity and the human resources to unite other civil society organisations in social movements or networks to address core issues related to public policies, design joint advocacy plans for such networks, and coordinate work with member organisations. 

At community level:

Result 3: The civil society organisations and the social networks have the capacity to analyse proactively the political context, generate alternative information and influence public debates and social movements. 

Result 4: The needs of the most vulnerable communities and people are taken into account in social policies.

Among decision-makers:

Result 5: The national government and the local authorities implement socially-oriented steps seeking to reduce poverty with an inclusive approach.

Approx. cost p.a. (pounds sterling): £121,275

Sustainable environment – DR

To promote food security, the sustainable management of natural resources, and adaptation to climate change in the DR through agricultural practices and ecological forest crops.

Duration: 2 years
Start date: 2010
End date: 2012

Principal local partners:
Agro-ecological Campesino Board of Salcedo (JUNACAS)
Federated Campesinos of Salcedo (CAFESA)
Coffee Follow-up Council (COSCAFE)
Scalabrinian Association at the Service of Human Mobility (ASCALA)

Principal funder(s):
Save the Children

RICA objectives*:

Theme 2: Sustainable environment
Goal: Poor and marginalised people will have improved quality of life through more equitable and sustainable management of natural resources, especially in the light of climate change and resource scarcity.

Objective 2.1 Sustainable farming
To promote agro-ecology and sustainable, equitable farming approaches and access to markets in order to increase quality of life for poor and marginalised people.

Objective 2.2 Sustainable natural resource management
To promote sustainable management of forest, coastal and water resources for the benefit of poor and marginalised people.

Objective 2.3 Environmental advocacy
To ensure poor people have sustainable and equitable access to natural resources, including addressing unsustainable patterns of global production and consumption in a context of climate change, resource scarcity and degradation.

Expected results:

At counterpart level:

Result 1: The partner organisations’ technical teams are strengthened and trained in agro-ecology, agro-forestry crops and associative production; all with a gender approach and sustainable environment as cross-cutting issues, through a campesino to campesino training programme conducted by former Progressio counterparts.

Result 2: Grassroots organisations and local authorities have greater knowledge related to the sustainable management of natural resources and climate change, enabling them to influence policy and practice on the issues, and in so doing to reduce the ecological impact at local level.

At community level:

Result 3: The communities have acquired a moderate level of food security through developing agro-ecological production in an associative manner.

Result 4: The communities have reduced the ecological impact through the sustainable management of water resources and basins, forests and soils; and the implementation of climate change adaptation strategies.

Among decision-makers:

Result 5: Local authorities and the national government promote the sustainable management of natural resources, agro-forestry crops, agro-ecology, and climate change adaptation programmes, at local and national level.

Approx. cost p.a. (pounds sterling): £80,850

* RICA (Regular Impact and Capacity Assessment) is our monitoring and evaluation framework. You can read more about how we use this to measure progress and outcomes in our accountability framework. You can also read the ‘route map’ showing the impact and outcomes we are striving to achieve across all of our work, and the indicators and means of verification that we will use to measure our progress.