Cross Border

Haiti/Dominican Republic Cross-Border Development and Conflict Prevention Program

• Actual Funding in 2003-2005: $750,000

Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR) have a long history as neighboring countries sharing the same island – Hispaniola. This history is a complex mix of conflict and war, occupation and rebellion, and dictators and democracy. Today, unresolved economic and political problems fuel tensions between the two countries. Yet, along the border, it is clear that both countries have much in common, such as communities living in extreme poverty and a lack of access to social services. Thus, in 2003, USAID/Haiti and USAID/DR launched a pilot activity with a local NGO (FUDECO) to help these communities focus on resolving their common issues and to reduce the causes of conflict and the competition for scarce resources. By “twinning” communities on the border, matching up pairs of Haitian and Dominican communities, the program promotes dialogue and cooperative problem solving with a focus on increasing trade and family incomes.  In 2004, a USAID/PVC grant to the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) provided further support to strengthen local NGOs along the border.  In the health sector, the USAID Missions in the DR and Haiti support activities in HIV/AIDS prevention and care, TB prevention and treatment and reproductive health services for women. 

The cross-border program has three components:

1. Increased Services, Opportunities and Training:  In collaboration with FUDECO – Fundación para el Desarrollo Comunitario, a Dominican NGO and affiliate of Save the Children international – USAID worked in the “twinned communities” of Mont Organisé (Haiti) and Restauración (Dominican Republic) to achieve impressive results: 160,000 hardwood and fruit trees planted to control soil erosion and improve agro-forestry techniques; 1,500 families provided with improved nutrition through the planting of home vegetable gardens; 12 community medicine kits installed, along with training for local women to manage the kits; operational off-grid solar electricity systems for home use for 30 families; ventilated latrines for 300 families provide an appropriate home sanitation system; 180 families have increased their disposable income by working with honey production systems; 64 families were provided with goats to raise for nutrition and sales and 137 now have henhouses; and a local farmer’s organization is engaged in quality coffee production to attract premium prices at market.  The Mont Organisé community has benefited from 20 km. of road rehabilitation and five solar-powered, deep-water wells that provide 900 families with clean, potable drinking water.  FUDECO received $720,000 of USAID funding from 2003 to 2005.

2. Opportunities Created and Local NGOs Strengthened:  With support from USAID’s office of Private and Voluntary Cooperation, the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) surveyed 112 local NGOs along the DR/Haiti border and began providing small grants to some of them to improve economic opportunities, enhance local services and provide better livelihood prospects.  Grants support activities such as constructing cyber cafes to increase computer literacy; expanding local fishing, beekeeping, and goatraising associations; strengthening the disaster assistance capabilities of local Red Cross chapters; and providing language training for national park guides to host a DR-Haiti ecological fair.  Local NGO capacity building includes training in finance, administration, leadership, strategic planning, fundraising, project design, monitoring and evaluation, and technical skills in targeted sectors. PADF has created a local NGO virtual computer network, sponsored binational workshops on HIV/AIDS, human rights, and trafficking in children, and conducted studies on attitudes and perceptions of border residents.  This is a 5-year (2003-2008), $3.25 million dollar program.

• HIV/AIDS, TB, and Reproductive Health:  Using bilateral Mission funds, both USAID/Dominican Republic and USAID/Haiti have supported health programs in the border region.  In the DR, subgrants have been provided to implementing partners through USAID/DR’s health program for HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children, community and home-based care for people living with HIV/AIDS and reproductive health services to lower maternal mortality and increase child survival.  In addition, USAID/DR supports Tuberculosis (TB) detection and treatment activities, including an island-wide TB Protocol Agreement signed by the Ministers of Health from both countries and community mobilization activities through NGOs.  USAID/Haiti is supporting primary health care service delivery in the Ouanaminthe area to the Centre de Développement et Santé (CDS), as well as direct support to the Ministry of Health’s Departmental Plan in the Northeast Region and technical assistance for service quality improvements.  In FY 2006, the Haiti Mission will launch HIV antiretroviral clinical care and treatment in the Ouanaminthe area with local partners, including the NGO, GHESKIO.  Activities will also include support for factory-based HIV education and prevention, which involves voluntary counseling and testing services along with peer counseling discussions.