Adaptive Social Protection in the Dominican Republic: resilience tools for the neediest households

Social protection systems help the poor and vulnerable cope with crises, find jobs, invest in the health and education of their children, and protect the elderly.

Supérate—the largest and most important program in the Dominican Republic’s social protection system—reaches Dominican families who need it most, providing them with conditional cash transfers that help them better develop their human capital.

These aid initiatives, which have the support of the World Bank, use a range of programs to promote food and nutrition security and the efficient use of energy. They include Aliméntate, Bonoluz, and Bonogás, all of which allow thousands of Dominicans to access essential goods and services for their daily lives.

“Adaptive” – a key component of the Dominican Republic’s commitment to social protection

Supérate incorporates various adaptive social protection measures to better respond to the impact of adverse events and improve the population’s resilience to climate change-related shocks.

In this case, “Adaptive” refers to the fact that the program has the flexibility required to clearly identify and target aid to the most vulnerable households in the face of shocks, expanding the benefits paid to recipients to meet the specific needs of each situation.

In addition, these programs call for certain criteria to be met, including, in some cases, that the youngest children go to school or that education and training courses be provided for certain groups, such as women and youth, enabling them to develop job skills and helping them to establish links to improve their labor market insertion.

The importance of social protection systems in the climate crisis

According to the recently published World Bank Country Climate and Development Report for the Dominican Republic, the country is highly vulnerable to climate change because of its geographical position and island status.  About half of Dominicans live in vulnerable conditions and are at risk of falling into poverty as a result of climate-related impacts or economic shocks.

Disasters accentuate inequalities in the country, having the greatest impact on the poorest households, especially those headed by women, and pose significant risks to human capital development, income generation, security, and the population’s well-being. Climate-related loss and damage can cost the country up to one percent of its GDP. It is now forecast that the DR could face hurricanes of even greater intensity and frequency, producing heavy rains and coastal flooding.

One in four of the poorest households is at high risk of flooding, compared to one in eight among the most well-off families. In other words, the poor are doubly at risk of losing everything when a flood occurs.

To address these challenges, Supérate focuses primarily on the poorest and most vulnerable households, helping individuals prepare for, cope with, and recover from climate-related impacts and shocks. The program incorporates various adaptive social protection measures to better respond to the impact of various shocks and improve the population’s resilience to climate change-related events. How do they do it?

• They have established an emergency bonus as the country’s main social crisis response program.
• The country’s social registry, known as SIUBEN (Sistema Único de Beneficiarios - Unified Beneficiary Identification System), has the necessary information in its Ficha Básica de Emergencias (Basic Emergency File, FIBE) to identify poor and vulnerable households after a disaster occurs.
• In addition, the payment system of the Social Subsidies Administrator (ADESS) is increasingly digitized and has more payment mechanisms available to reach the beneficiaries of social subsidies who need them most.

Some Country Success Stories

Hurricane Fiona: an example of the social protection system at work

On September 19, 2022, Hurricane Fiona lashed the Dominican Republic with heavy rain and winds, affecting more than 1.4 million people and destroying homes and infrastructure in different parts of the country.

The government mobilized immediate relief to alleviate and mitigate Fiona’s impact on the affected communities. Availing itself of various adaptive social protection tools, the government distributed food and non-food items, repaired infrastructure, and, for the first time, handed out the Supérate emergency bonus.

The following are some of the measures that were deployed:

1. SIUBEN used the Basic Emergency File (FIBE) to obtain information on the extent of the impact, define the eligibility criteria, and PRIORITIZE households by level of impact and need before proceeding to make the corresponding payments.
2. The Emergency Bonus helped nearly 36,000 poor and vulnerable families recover from the ravages of Hurricane Fiona.

The World Bank is working closely with the Dominican Republic on the development of a more adaptive social protection system that can, on an ongoing basis, protect the livelihoods of its people in the event of an emergency or adverse natural event, while driving sustainable growth and leaving no one behind.

Discover the Dominican Republic's social protection in infographics