Dominican Republic Country Strategic Plan (2019-2023)

CSP approved at EB.1/2019

Revision 01 approved by the RD in December 2019

Revision 02 approved by the RD in July 2020.

Revision 03 approved by the CD in December 2020.

Revision 04 approved by the EB in August 2021.

In the Dominican Republic, impressive economic growth and social policies have contributed to the reduction of hunger and poverty. Significant inequality and exclusion persist, however, and almost half the population is at high risk of poverty. In addition, food insecurity, stunting, anaemia, overweight and obesity remain major concerns. The main drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition in the country are limited access to food, the absence of education on nutrition, poor eating habits, lack of food regulations, gender inequalities and extreme poverty.

The country’s development priorities are outlined in its national development strategy, which extends to 2030. The country has developed a national Sustainable Development Goal 2 road map with WFP support and has identified the following priorities for achieving zero hunger: strengthening the design and implementation of legal frameworks related to food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture and disaster risk reduction; strengthening the design and implementation of social protection, public health and sustainable agriculture programmes; generating consistent sex- and age-disaggregated data and gender analysis of the food security and nutrition situation, policies and programmes; providing adequate resources for programmes and interventions; strengthen public institutions, particularly in terms of human resources; promoting nutrition education; and ensuring inter-institutional coordination.

This country strategic plan is based on the recommendations of the zero hunger strategic review and consultations with the Government and key stakeholders .The WFP country office has drafted this country strategic plan in line with the Government’s expectations and the country’s efforts to achieve zero hunger .WFP’s contribution is mainly to provide expertise in nutrition ,social protection and emergency response ,as well as to act as a convenor for stakeholders .WFP is seen by the Government as a partner that ensures quality and facilitates initiatives against hunger .The country strategic plan includes a "whole of society" approach – involving national and provincial authorities ,disaster management agencies ,national non-governmental organizations ,the International Red Cross and private sector and other institutions – where no one is left behind 1. WFP’s engagement with national stakeholders is aimed at an integrated and multisector approach focused on reducing food insecurity and malnutrition through three strategic outcomes:

• Civil society and public and private institutions in the Dominican Republic are strengthened and coordinated and are able to address the zero hunger issues of the most vulnerable populations by 2023.
• The most nutritionally vulnerable groups have improved their nutrition status by 2023.
• National and local systems are strengthened and coordinated, improving resilience to shocks, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction among vulnerable populations by 2023.

WFP will increase its support for policy decision making with advocacy, communications and high-quality programme design and technical assistance. It will continue to enhance and expand its partnerships with government stakeholders, including the Office of the Vice-President, the Ministry of the Presidency, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, the Ministry of Education, the national public canteens authority, the national institute for early childhood development and the national system for disaster prevention, mitigation and response. It will establish new partnerships with the private sector, academia, other United Nations agencies, donors and civil society and will continue to collaborate with the other Rome-based agencies.

The country strategic plan will contribute to the Dominican Republic’s national development strategy, national Sustainable Development Goal 2 road map, national food sovereignty and food and nutrition security plan, national disaster risk management plan and United Nations development assistance framework for 2017–2022, as well as the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17 and WFP Strategic Results 2 and 5.