Dominica and WFP partner under an expanded public assistance programme to support the COVID-19 response

The CARICOM COVID-19 Food Security and Livelihoods Impact Survey, administered by WFP in April 2020 and again in July 2020, highlights that the pandemic has caused increased job loss, higher food prices and poorer food consumption overall. The impact has been felt more severely as time goes on, particularly for the poorest households and with Dominica being one of the countries hardest hit.

“The socio-economic impact that COVID-19 has had on Small Island Development States, like Dominica, is tantamount to that of another Category V hurricane.” explains Mr. Regis Chapman, Head of Office in Barbados, who coordinates WFP’s support in the Caribbean. “The Government and people of Dominica are still recovering from the 2008 economic recession, compounded by the impact of Tropical Storm Erica in 2015 and Hurricane Maria in 2017. The pandemic adds another layer of complexity in Dominica’s story of recovery and resilience and it is vulnerable persons that feel it most.”

WFP and the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have partnered to support the Government of Dominica to meet the challenge of assisting the most impacted individuals and to expand the reach of the Public Assistance Programme (PAP), while using the opportunity to strengthen how current social protection strategies are used to respond in situations of crisis.

“This is not the first time that the Public Assistance Programme (PAP) has been used to allow affected persons to meet food, health, education and other needs in a crisis,” explained the Honourable Adis King, Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, Youth at Risk, Gender Affairs, Seniors’ Security and Dominicans with Disabilities. “In fact, we would have expanded the reach of the PAP in the post-hurricane Maria response in 2018. WFP and UNICEF were an integral part of that effort, which reached over 24,000 people.”

This current partnership for the national COVID-19 response builds on key lessons learned in 2017/18. Further, the government is spearheading improvements to the planning and delivery of assistance to those in need. Through WFP’s technical assistance, Dominica is strengthening social protection to be more responsive in the face of current and future health, economic and/or climatic shocks as part of the effort to become the first climate resilient nation. An amount of US$750,000 will be made available to the Government of Dominica for this cash transfer programme.