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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Dominica

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Dominica

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Dominica has played a critical role in strengthening resilience, supporting recovery from natural disasters, and promoting sustainable development across climate, governance, livelihood, and social protection sectors. Formally established after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the UNDP Project Office in Dominica works closely with the government and partners on policy, planning, and implementation of recovery, climate resilience, and inclusive development initiatives.

Strategic Priorities & Institutional Framework

UNDP’s mandate in Dominica comprises several interlinked strategic priorities:

  • Recovery and Resilience: Assisting Dominica to rebuild in ways that reduce vulnerabilities to storms, hurricanes, and climate events. This involves institutional strengthening (e.g. the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica, CREAD), climate resilience legislation, and embedding resilience into infrastructure and planning.
  • Livelihood Strengthening & Social Protection: Ensuring communities, especially vulnerable groups (including women, indigenous people, and smallholder farmers), are supported in their economic recovery and maintain food security.
  • Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation: Working with the government on Dominica’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), reducing emissions (e.g. by 45% below 2014 levels by 2030), improving access to climate finance, and supporting adaptation measures in agriculture, infrastructure, water resources, coastal zones, and coastal resilience.
  • Digital Transformation & Remote Work Opportunities: Supporting programmes like Work Online Dominica, which train professionals to access international job markets and build skills for remote work to diversify incomes and strengthen resilience.

Institutionally, the UNDP works in partnership with various local government ministries, CREAD, disaster management offices, and civil society. Donors such as the Green Climate Fund, Government of Italy, Japan-Caribbean climate partnership, and others contribute funding and technical expertise.

Key UNDP-Led or UNDP-Facilitated Projects in Dominica

For over four decades, UNDP has partnered with Dominica on transformative initiatives, spanning immediate post-disaster recovery efforts, climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, digital economy, and institutional strengthening.

Current and Recently Completed Projects (Last 5 Years)

  • Strengthening Community Resilience in the Kalinago Territory: A US$1 million programme supporting indigenous communities through climate-smart agriculture, small enterprise development, and resilient infrastructure to reduce vulnerability and improve livelihoods.
  • Enhancing Smart Sustainable Agriculture and Agro-Processing for Climate Resilience (ESSAA-1): Funded by Italy, this 2024–2026 initiative builds irrigation systems, agro-processing centers, and farmer training to strengthen climate resilience and promote sustainable food production.
  • Work Online Dominica: A digital skills and remote work training initiative, enabling participants to access global online employment markets, diversify incomes, and reduce climate-related economic vulnerability.
  • Salisbury Educational Facility Reconstruction: Rebuilt after Hurricane Maria, this resilient school facility doubles as a disaster shelter, showcasing “Build Back Better” principles for education infrastructure and community safety.
  • National Adaptation and Communications Projects: Guided Dominica’s national reporting to the UNFCCC, improving policy capacity, raising climate awareness, and strengthening coastal and agricultural adaptation planning frameworks.

Projects Over the Last 40 Years

  • Post-Hurricane David Recovery (1979): UNDP coordinated disaster relief, rebuilding housing, schools, and agricultural systems after the Category 5 hurricane devastated Dominica’s economy and infrastructure.
  • Poverty Reduction Programme (1990s): Addressed rural poverty through community projects, small business financing, and agricultural diversification while strengthening government institutions for inclusive social policy.
  • Governance and Public Sector Modernization (2000s): Supported reforms to enhance transparency, build local government capacity, and digitize public service delivery across ministries and municipal councils.
  • Climate Adaptation and Energy Projects (2010s): Introduced renewable energy assessments, coastal management plans, and community-based adaptation projects aimed at long-term environmental sustainability and climate resilience.
  • Institutional Support to Disaster Risk Reduction (2010s): Strengthened early warning systems, emergency response planning, and technical capacity in coordination with regional disaster agencies and Dominica’s Office of Disaster Management.

UNDP’s projects in Dominica, past and present, demonstrate a consistent commitment to resilience, inclusion, and sustainability, ensuring communities are better prepared for future social, economic, and environmental challenges.

Institutional & Policy Contributions

  • Climate Resilience & Recovery Plan (CRRP): UNDP assisted with design and implementation. The CRRP is central to Dominica’s goal of becoming the world’s first climate-resilient nation. This umbrella plan aligns reconstruction, policy, finance, legal frameworks, and institutional capacity.
  • National Resilience Development Strategy 2030: Strategic direction for integrating sustainable development and climate resilience into national planning. UNDP supports its implementation through technical assistance and coordination.
  • Gender Equality & Indigenous Peoples: Projects like EnGenDER ensure recovery and climate adaptation consider gender impacts; assessments of livelihoods in the Kalinago Territory to ensure interventions respect indigenous rights and culture.

Key Principles & Cross-cutting Themes

UNDP’s work in Dominica is guided by several principles and recurring themes, which shape how its programmes are designed and delivered:

  1. “Build Back Better”: Ensuring that reconstruction after disasters incorporates resilience, structural, environmental, social, to withstand future shocks. The Salisbury facility is a prime example.
  2. Gender Responsiveness: Projects aim to incorporate gender analysis so that women’s needs and roles are addressed, especially in agriculture and disaster recovery.
  3. Local Ownership and Indigenous Inclusion: The Kalinago community is often engaged directly in planning and implementation of projects that affect them.
  4. Diversified Livelihoods and Economic Resilience: UNDP supports creation of new income streams (e.g. digital work), agro-processing, climate-smart agriculture, to reduce dependency on vulnerable sectors.
  5. Access to Climate Finance & Institutional Capacity Building: Projects help strengthen the country’s ability to prepare proposals, manage funds (e.g. Green Climate Fund readiness), and build governmental/technical institution capacity.

Challenges & Ongoing Needs

While UNDP has made strong progress, there are persistent challenges in Dominica that shape UNDP’s ongoing work:

  • Securing Sustainable Financing: While projects are funded by multiple donors (Italy, Japan, Green Climate Fund, etc.), integrating project funds into national budgeting consistently remains a task.
  • Scaling Up Infrastructure Resilience: Rebuilding facilities is ongoing, but many remote or rural communities still lack resilient infrastructure (schools, roads, utilities) capable of withstanding disasters.
  • Monitoring, Reporting & Technical Capacity: Implementation of climate and resilience strategies requires robust data systems; efforts to develop Monitoring, Reporting, Verification (MRV) systems, early warning systems, and adaptation enforcement are in progress.
  • Inclusion & Equity: Ensuring that interventions meaningfully reach marginalized populations, indigenous communities, female farmers, remote settlements, is often more difficult than initial project design anticipates.
  • Climate Change Intensification: Hurricanes, rainfall extremes, and sea level rise continue to threaten both natural ecosystems and infrastructure, demanding continuous adaptation.

Impact & Outlook

UNDP’s involvement has contributed significantly to Dominica’s trajectory toward climate resilience and sustainable development:

  • Education infrastructure has been restored in more resilient form; classrooms and labs now double as shelters.
  • Agriculture and food systems projects are helping farmers adapt to climate variability with tools, training, water infrastructure, and agro-processing facilities.
  • Digital economy initiatives are providing new employment pathways, especially post-COVID.
  • Institutional frameworks (CREAD, CRRP, NDCs, etc.) guided by UNDP support are ensuring national policies are better integrated with resilience goals.

Looking forward, UNDP’s alignment with the National Resilience and Development Strategy 2030, enhanced climate finance access, and deepening of inclusive, locally-driven programming promise to strengthen Dominica’s ability to withstand and thrive amid climate and global economic uncertainty.