Dominican Republic It is uncertain to many people if the country of the Dominican Republic is completely unstable or just facing poverty

in certain areas. It is evident that the Dominican Republic does include wealthier people, but majority is low-income poor families, who are facing the very extreme poverty. These people are particularly vulnerable, and they suffer not only from low incomes and poor living conditions but also from social exclusion. It is evident that this extent of poverty could have been avoided, but at this point addressing the issues and developing possible solutions is all that can be done, with hopes of saving the struggling country and citizens. The economic background of the Dominican Republic is very important to understanding the amount of poverty that the country is imposed with. The per capita income in the country is $3,180.89. That means the amount of money an adult citizen of the Dominican Republic earns is very little compared to the average amount an American citizen earns, which is $44,155.00 per capita. In comparison to a citizen of the United States, a Dominican only makes about 7 % of what an average American makes annually. The Gross National Income, GNI, is $18,954,900.00. Much of the national income is received through the agricultural exports that the country depends on. The country is known for many exports such as, sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas, cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef and eggs. The three main exports are sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Most of the nations wealth comes from exporting these products to other nations across the world. According to nationmaster.com, The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10%

enjoys nearly 40% of national income. This is the reason for the major gap between the poor population and the rich population. Because the wealth is unevenly distributed, there is an extremely large amount of people sharing only a small percentage of the nations wealth. This is not only unfair, but impractical as well. It was also reported by nationmaster.com, that 42.2 % of the population of the Dominican Republic is living below the poverty line. Unemployment is a major issue in the Dominican Republic as well because there is not a sufficient amount of wealth to be distributed to the rest of the population because the rich are dominating the economy. The country of the Dominican Republic was once ruled by Spain and is located on an island named Hispaniola, which is shared with the country Haiti. The most common ethnicities on this island are mostly mixed with European and African origins. This African heritage is openly reflected through music, songs, and dance. This island is a major tourist destination and attracts many to visit due to its warm weather and surroundings by water. Dominican Republic also The most common ethnicities on this island are mostly mixed with European and African origins. However, the tourism and exports are not enough help for the Dominican Republic; they remain one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean. Not everyone on this island is suffering of severe poverty but there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. The rich are typically white descendants of Spanish settlers and own most of the land. The poorest citizens are generally compromising people of the African descent. Another factor that does not help with the citizens struggling in this country are the many Haitians that come to live and work in the Dominican Republic, many of them being illegal. Although the government has carried out mass deportations, it still remains to be a consistent issue (BBC

News, 1). It appears that with this large gap of poverty and illegal Haitians taking away job opportunities that helping the poor in this country will continue to be a big struggle. The Dominican Republic does hold a steady government and political system that tries to do what they can for this poverty issue. Their president, Leonel Fernandez, is from the Dominican Liberation party. The president is the official head of state and is commander and chief of the armed forces. The president also appoints a cabinet of ministers to handle certain affairs or direct certain government policies. The Democratically represented government is divided into three branches which include executive, legislative, and judicial. After the president is democratically elected they hold one term for four years. The Dominican Republic elects their president via an election, which is distinct and separate from elections for representatives of the legislature. The democratically elected legislative branch consists of congress which is split between the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. This government is almost identical to the government system of the United States (Dominican Today, 1). Having the citizens play a role in the decisions making of important aspects such as their president is always very important. Therefore, this government is run in a reasonable way by having a fair election for their president and having one leader to work towards their political system. In the country of the Dominican Republic they possess what is called a Pact for Democracy. This pact was made in 1996 and is an agreement called for electoral reform and new elections. This ensures an electoral environment in which presidential or congressional elections are held every two years. Having this pact keeps the citizens of the country satisfied

and assures them that they will remain involved and be able to have input to decisions for the nation. The NDI is also involved in conducting programs for the Dominican Republic. The NDI is the National Democratic Institute, and this helps strengthen the electoral process and build confidence in the democratic system. Having the NDI involved has assisted in included trainings on strategic planning, womens participation, youth and volunteer mobilization, media relations, outreach to underrepresented sectors, political negotiation, fundraising, adult education, and community organizing (Dominican Today, 1). The NDI absolutely keeps everyone involved in the country in a fair way and gives the most opportunities to every person. All citizens have the chance to be involved in their nation and it is not left for one person to have total control. Having these two programs in the Dominican Republic really helps eliminate any issues of leadership and allows all individuals to play a role and contribute. Although the Dominican Republic has a steady and fair government and obtain programs to keep citizens involved with the country, they still face the huge issue of poverty. It may be hard to believe because the country is still struggling, but a lot has already been done to address their crisis. The government has made plans and many donation programs have worked toward helping the poverty. Many donor organizations donated large amounts of money. There have also been projects such as Food for the Poor projects which has people actually coming to the country and building more than 900 homes, more than 50 tilapia ponds, and constructing more than 50 water projects. In August of 2008 the government launched a developmental plan for 2008- 2012 which aims at further reducing poverty and social

inequality in the country (Ribando, 3). This plan is also implementing a balanced expansion of social expeditions for service such as health, education, and water supply. Working towards strengthening these areas will really benefit the country and help prevent the problem from worsening. Their plan continues their existing Solidaridad social development program, which focused on Eating First, which is a school food program on incentives for school attendance and on a program for facilitating provision of birth certificates and identity documents to poor families. The government plan will be expanded between 2008 and 2012 to increase the number of people benefited from it. The government will also implement an aggressive employment program which will consolidate the social security system and improve its operations and benefits (Jiminez, 6). Many areas have been addressed by the government to reduce the extreme poverty among the Dominicans and the need to improve living conditions in the slums, which are home to the poorest of the poor. All of these plans and programs by the government to tackle the crisis of poverty are not the only contributions to the help; but they are in collaboration with other donors trying to help. Now seeing the state that some of the citizens of the Dominican Republic are living in, it is easy to see what could have been done differently from the start. Unfortunately, it is obviously too late to prevent the poverty issues that are already here. Something that the country could have done differently so this would not be such an issue could have been incorporating or taking into account aspects such as education, health, gender, cultural elements, exclusion from political power mechanisms, and participation in the decisions that affect people. Another possibility could have been expanding the options for the poor

through education. From the start, all boys and girls should have access to preschool as a basis for their future in education, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The country could have adopted positive discrimination strategies targeted to the poorest areas, especially aimed at rural and border areas and schools in the urban slums; as well as the adoption of strategies targeted to the over age groups, which are of significant importance to the country. Promotions of programs that allow the temporary movement of workers under contractual conditions clearly stating the rights and duties of the parties could have also helped this country. Another idea that government could have put into effect could have been developing an adequate monitoring, supervision, and evaluation system for social policy management. Enforcing that children go to school at such a young age and having many educational opportunities will only benefit their futures. With good available educations the children could grow to hold valuable jobs and be successful and not struggling for survival. Not only focusing on young children but also older citizens could be very beneficial and significant to the countrys development. Promotions for work would keep more people receiving money and less people remaining poor and living in slums. Also, if the government monitored and supervised the countrys economic status, the country would not have gotten to the point of such low poverty that it has today (Mora- Baez, 11). If these ideas of protecting the country were put into effect before hand, the issue of poverty may not have been the crisis that it is now. Many promotions, programs, and opportunities could have been made available to help the citizens of the Dominican Republic to be more successful so they are not struggling.

It seems hard to understand how the Dominican Republic reached this point of poverty although they have a stable government and fair opportunities for getting involved. This country has faced unfortunate events out of their control that they now have to live with everyday. Too many people are living in unfair living situations and consistently face common hardships. Some of the locations left available to the poor citizens are tough to live in, and more tough to try and receive an education in, or especially try to maintain a job in. Dominican Republic has been lucky enough to receive the donations and programs trying to help support their poverty, however, they are still not out of the financial crisis. It is sad to know that it could have possibly been prevented from getting to this point by obtaining simple steps; however, it is too late now. Poverty in the Dominican Republic is a huge struggle for many people, and hopefully one day all of the help being asserted to the country will pay off and begin to build the country back up.

References "Assessing Vulnerability with a Poverty Lens." Global Economic Crisis (2009): 1-6. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/WBGVulnerableCountriesBrief.>. "BBC News." Dominican Republic country profile. BBC, 14 Jan 2010. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1216926.stm>. "Children of the Nations." Dominican Republic. CHILDREN OF THE NATIONS INTERNATIONAL, n.d. Web. 20 April 2010. <http://www.cotni.org/pages/31-dominicanrepublic>. Dominican Republic. (2011). Retrieved April 20, 2011, from nationmaster.com: http://www.nationmaster.com/country/dr-dominican-republic

"Dominican Today." Dominican Republic amongs poorest countries. The Dominican Republic News Source in English, 7 Dec 2006. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/poverty/2006/12/7/20313/Dominican-Republic-amongpoorest-countries>. "Food for the Poor." Food For The Poor Projects in the Dominican Republic. Food for the Poor Inc, 2010. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://www.foodforthepoor.org/about/work/dominicanrepublic.html>. Jiminez, Domingo. "Dominican Republic- Eurpoean Community." National Indicative Programme 8.4 (2008): 1- 21. Web. 20 April 2011. Mora-Bez, Jacqueline. "Poverty Module Dominican Republic." Agricultural and Development Economics Division. (2003): 1-44. Print. Ribando, Clare M. "Dominican Republic: Political and Economic Conditions." CRS Report for Congress (2005): 1-6. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS21718.pdf>. Secretary General." Dominican Republics Work to Reach Anti-Poverty Goals Inspiration to International. Department of Public Information, 4 Aug 2006. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10587.doc.htm "USAID from the American people." Dominican Republic. N.p., 29 May 2002. Web. 20 April 2011. <http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/cbj2003/lac/dr/>. "World Health Organization." Dominican Republic. World Health Organization Co, May 2009. Web. 20 April 2011 <http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_dom_en.pdf>.