Using WASH to Build Disaster Resilience in the Caribbean
Summary
In 2024, The WASH Foundation committed to empowering communities in the Dominican Republic by expanding the WASH Education Program into 10 schools and one health care center, impacting more than 155,000 people. Along with training sessions and workshops, The WASH Foundation provides improved hygiene and sanitation infrastructure, educational supplies, and necessary capacity-building materials for the community-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) program. DRR skills and programming will be incorporated into the community through the formation of community-based DRR groups. Members will be provided with the education, training, and skills necessary to prepare their communities to mitigate the effects of disasters before they hit and will be included in local, district, and national level disaster planning and policies. Ultimately, The WASH Foundation seeks to incorporate the WASH-in-Schools curriculum into the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Education curriculums, seeking to build sustainable partnerships with the regional and national governments.
Approach
The WASH Foundation commits to empowering Dominican communities by expanding its WASH Education Program, including community level disaster risk reduction into 10 schools and one healthcare center, impacting over 155,000 people. Along with training sessions and workshops, The WASH Foundation provides improved hygiene and sanitation infrastructure, educational supplies to participating schools and healthcare facilities, as well as the necessary capacity-building materials for the community-based disaster risk reduction program. The WASH Foundation team then supports and monitors teachers and healthcare facility staff for one year, followed by one additional year of program monitoring to ensure that teachers are able to independently and effectively incorporate WASH education into every new school year, and healthcare center staff can maintain hygienic and sanitary facilities with adequate water, setting an example to their patients and overall community from one generation to the next.
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) skills and programming will be addressed through the WASH programming at the school and healthcare center levels and ultimately incorporated into the community through the formation of community-based DRR groups, who will be provided with the education, training, and skills necessary to prepare their communities to mitigate the effects of disasters before they hit, and be included in local, district, and national level disaster planning and policies.
Ultimately the WASH Foundation seeks to incorporate the WASH-in-Schools curriculum into the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Education curriculums, building sustainable partnerships with the regional and national government. The WASH Foundation’s Dominican Republic program has had a presence and alliance with the government since 2019. Members of the team possess not only local language skills, but also have a unique educational and life background necessary to build trust and execute successful projects in the regions, and communities where most originate from. This holistic approach will be implemented in the Dominican Republic, creating a model that can be scaled and replicated to reach Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica, and Dominica in future years.
Action Plan
January to March 2025: Deploy WASH in Healthcare Center Program in 1 Punta Cana center, followed by 1 year of support, including monitoring and evaluation of the program progress. Scoping mission to identify target communities and prepare for the DRR program
April to June 2025: Implement 1 community DRR program, including 1 year of support, monitoring, and evaluation
July to September 2025: Expand into the La Altagracia Province to implement a WASH in Schools teacher training for 10 new schools, including support, monitoring, and evaluation for 1 year
October to December 2025: Implement a second community DRR program
Background
In the Dominican Republic one in every 36 children under the age of five die every year from a lack of access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene according to UNICEF. Sanitation services in health care facilities are essential to deliver high-quality care. Health facilities without proper water access, toilets, and waste disposal can spread disease instead of preventing it. While improved management of waste in healthcare can ensure that infectious diseases do not contaminate the health care facility and surrounding areas, approximately 1 in 5 global health care facilities lack good sanitation practices.
Caribbean countries, such as the Dominican Republic, are highly exposed to a range of natural hazards from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes and hurricanes, which damage infrastructure stock, reduce tourism demand, and destroy agricultural production. This makes the entire region vulnerable to shocks from natural disasters and economic disruptions. Climate change is increasing the frequency of natural disasters in the Caribbean, which means that more communities are encountering disaster impacts with more frequency. The impact on the overall community is only increased among the marginalized groups that live within these often-vulnerable communities. This has a direct bearing on the health and education of the population.
While governments provide a centralized disaster risk management policy, such as disaster response and mitigation plans, there is a lack of actionable coordination and communication available or known at the community level. This gap in localized preparedness planning is disempowering, and leaves groups exposed to increased risk from natural hazards to their health and livelihoods. The need to combine Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the community level and into health and education plans from the national to the community level, is therefore of paramount importance.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
The WASH Foundation seeks financial support, additional capacity training, best practice information, and media support such as inclusion in annual reports about the grant, the project and its impact, and our newly established partnership., The WASH Foundation can offer other organizations collected data, educational training materials and resources, connections with potential partners, introductions to key stakeholders where necessary, media support on the organizational website and select publications, as well as general best practices to follow within specific cultural and national contexts.