Domesticating the Sendai Framework: Reducing the Risk of Natural Disasters in the Dominican Republic

The latest global UNDP report (Human Development Report 2020, "The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene") highlights that the country loses 21 points in human development because of growing inequalities.

The prevailing levels of social inequality in the country increase the vulnerability of certain population groups, not only because of income inequities, but also because of differentiated access to basic services, health, and social protection. Among these vulnerable groups, immigrant populations and their descendants stand out, especially those in an irregular migration situation or without documentation proving Dominican nationality.

According to ECLAC (2016), there are three structuring axes of social inequality in Latin America: ethnic and racial inequalities and their relationship to gender inequalities; the chaining of inequalities throughout the life cycle; and territorial inequalities. In the Dominican context, where structural inequality is observed throughout the population, the condition of both the Haitian and Venezuelan populations creates a higher level of disadvantage.

The research study "Study on Migration, Vulnerability and Disaster Risk Reduction with Emphasis on Groups in Greater Vulnerability (Haitian migration and Venezuelan migration with a gender and childhood focus)" explores the way in which gender, life cycle, and ethnicity influence the vulnerability of Venezuelan and Haitian groups in natural and health emergencies. It portrays populations residing in the municipality of Santo Domingo Norte in the Los Guaricanos sector, which was intervened by the Ministry of Public Health due to COVID-19. During the fieldwork, the pandemic broke out and had to be incorporated into this mixed study, qualitative and somewhat quantitative, which was carried out in 2020.

The Sendai Framework

This study, carried out by OBMICA with Marcos Morales as principal investigator, was promoted by the NGOs Oxfam, Plan International, Habitat for Humanity, Humanity & Inclusion, and Ciudad Alternativa, with financial support from the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). It is intended as a contribution toward a stronger national commitment to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted in 2015 by the Third UN World Conference held in Sendai, Japan, as the result of prior consultations among stakeholders. Prophetically, this international framework states: "Health resilience is strongly promoted."

Findings and recommendations

Within a legislative framework that is still inadequate, the study synthesizes the perceptions of different stakeholders regarding inclusion. One key actor observed:

"Immigrants are something invisible in terms of policies and actions, even lower than gender issues. [...] there is even a certain type of rejection of certain migrants such as Haitians."

With respect to the pandemic, the study underlines that expanded social protection measures intended to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 did not reach the population of interest, as they were exclusively directed to Dominicans. Actions related to disaster risk reduction are analyzed in the study area in Santo Domingo Norte, as well as the problems affecting migrants, their integration at different stages of response from prevention to follow-up, from a gender perspective and differentiating impacts by age.

The recommendations provide inputs for public policy and the competent authorities and address, among other matters: the legislative framework, the participation of migrant populations in community participation structures, possible ways to include these populations in official assistance, and how to foster greater integration while paying due attention to their migration status, which is mostly irregular, and to that of their descendants (mostly from the Haitian population) in pursuit of an effective solution to the recognition of Dominican nationality when applicable. The study also proposes ways to mitigate the effects of routine evictions aggravated by economic issues linked to the pandemic. In short, it urges a perspective that includes not only the immediate context but also the structural one.

From our perspective, this study offers contributions toward reducing inequalities in the country, counter to current trends made visible by the UN in its recent global report, in the field of disaster risk reduction and with regard to the migration factor. The study focuses on an urban environment and its findings cannot be generalized; it is necessary to deepen these same issues in other places in the Dominican Republic. A summary of the study is available on OBMICA's website at the following link:

Policy Brief: Study on migration, vulnerability, and disaster risk reduction

The full study is available at the OBMICA office.