Governments of the United States and the Dominican Republic Sign Cooperation Agreement Valued at US$133 Million

19 September 2002

Governments of the United States and the Dominican Republic Sign Cooperation Agreement Valued at US$133 Million

Santo Domingo – The President of the Republic, Engineer Hipólito Mejía, and the United States Ambassador to this country, Hans H. Hertell, today, September 19th, signed a cooperation agreement for the execution of a program valued at US$133 million, which will be directed at improving the economy and standard of living of the Dominican people. The program will be carried out through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which will disburse US$100 million over the next six years. The Dominican Government counterpart will be the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency, through which the counterpart contribution, an amount of US$33 million, will be managed.

The funds will be used in three key areas: economic opportunities, health, and democracy and governance. During the year 2002, the assistance from USAID to the Dominican Republic will be US$18.2 million.

Speaking during the signing of the agreement, Ambassador Hertell stated: “Today both governments agree to invest $133 million dollars to reach these goals, as a demonstration of the commitment by both countries to the implementation of the development strategy prepared by USAID in collaboration with its partners and Dominican counterparts. I again wish to point out and acknowledge the importance of the participation of our partners, of civil society, and of the counterparts from the private sector in this process. Only through the close and unselfish collaboration of all, where each one contributes his intellectual and economic resources, will the proposed strategy be able to effectively reduce the levels of poverty in the Dominican Republic through greater economic opportunities for the poor, broader democratic horizons, and a healthier populace.”

The strategy, based on the idea that the Dominican Republic’s economy must continue to grow, includes the approximately 32 percent of the population which lives in poverty.

In total, USAID will invest US$29 million to increase the economic opportunities of the poor. In this same regard, and working with the public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations, USAID will help to improve the country’s ability to compete in global markets. This will be achieved by improving the conditions for a more competitive Dominican economy; contributing to improvements in the quality of basic education through a greater participation of the private sector and the local community; and by helping to safeguard the environment, which is important to achieving sustainable economic growth.

In the field of democracy and governance, over the next six years USAID will channel US$30 million to continue providing assistance in support of the efforts made by civil society to improve the electoral processes and to deepen the democracy of the political system. This assistance will also contribute to reinforcing Rule of Law programs and the respect for human rights, and at the same time help public sector institutions and civil society to combat corruption.

USAID's health strategy is directed at improving the health of those persons living in poverty, especially children, adolescents, and women of child-bearing age. This program, valued at US$41.25 million, is oriented to three priority areas: HIV/AIDS prevention and care; childhood diseases and immunization; and reproductive health services. The program will also support the process of reform of the health sector, which will improve the quality of health services at the local level.