World Bank approves US$100M loan to improve integration of social protection services in Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has been one of the fastest growing economies in the region over the last decade.

 The World Bank has approved a US$100 million loan to support the Dominican Republic in improving the efficiency of delivering integrated social protection services and promoting economic inclusion with a focus on youth and households headed by females and to increase the resilience of the vulnerable population while responding promptly and effectively in the wake of a crisis or emergency.

The Dominican Republic has been one of the fastest growing economies in the region over the last decade. However, there are still significant challenges faced by the poor, especially vulnerable youth and women, who continue to experience unequal human capital investments such as in education and training, and less labor market integration, as 80 percent of those aged 25-54 and the poorest are informally employed. Furthermore, over 40 percent of Dominicans live in vulnerable conditions and are at risk of falling into poverty due to climate-linked impacts and economic shocks.

The Integrated Social Protection, Inclusion and Resilience Project (INSPIRE) will be implemented by the country’s social protection program SUPERATE and it will focus on three areas:  (i) costs associated with conditional cash transfers (CCTs) under the program Aliméntate to promote human capital, and emergency cash transfers (Bono de Emergencia) to increase resilience and improve food security and nutrition, which are affected by increasing climate change extreme events; (ii) economic inclusion through training, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship for disadvantaged youth -promoting the participation of low-income youth and women -who are unemployed or working informally so they can find and retain gainful employment and income generation activities; and (iii) technical assistance to improve efficiency of the delivery of integrated social protection services, by strengthening the social registry, targeting, and payment.

“The lack of inclusion of women and young people in the Dominican Republic’s 2030 Vision could represent a significant loss for the country’s GDP,” said Alexandria Valerio, World Bank Country Representative for the Dominican Republic. “INSPIRE can help the SUPERATE's poverty reduction strategy to increase employment and income for women and youth and accelerate economic growth with opportunities for all Dominicans.”