Attachments
OVERVIEW
Introduction
This report analyses data collected from interviews conducted with 444 Dominicans impacted by Hurricane Maria, the worst natural disaster on record for the Caribbean island nation.
This round of interviews took place between 4 February and 2 March 2018, roughly four and a half months after Hurricane Maria made landfall. As part of the '2H Network's DFID-funded mission in the Caribbean, Ground Truth Solutions, an NGO, is providing a regular flow of feedback on community perceptions about the effectiveness of the response and their evolving needs. The surveys offer decision-makers insight into community concerns as the basis for programmatic course corrections and to manage people's expectations. This report covers the third of five rounds of surveys in Dominica, as well as information collected from nine focus group discussions that targeted home-based Dominicans, as well Dominicans displaced to St. Lucia and Antigua. For reference, the first and second round reports can be found on our website. The raw data from the completed rounds of data collection can also be found on HDX Connect. The next round of data collection will take place in April 2018 and will be accompanied by a survey focused on gauging the perceptions of Dominicans on the cash support provided by the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities (IFRC).
Highlights
- A majority of respondents believe Dominicans are unprepared for the 2018 hurricane season (03);
- Respondents are undecided on whether the lives of Dominicans have improved since the hurricane (014). Among those who say life has not improved, widespread homelessness and outstanding home damage are cited as the main reasons for negative responses;
- Half of respondents say they have not been able to resume their jobs or livelihood activities (Q13). Unemployment and financial hardship are reported by 70% of respondents as a reason for people leaving Dominica (015);
- More than a third of respondents do not think that their most important needs are being met (Q4), the majority of them call for financial assistance;
- There is a downward trend of people feeling treated with respect by relief workers (Q12).
- Just under half of respondents do not think that support is going to those who need it most (Q9). Participants of the quantitative survey as well as the focus group discussions report that patronage plays a role when aid is distributed, and discrimination based on political affiliation is an issue. Respondents call for independent, non-governmental supervisory bodies to help determine who receives support and oversees distributions;
- Information provision to affected communities on available support has not improved across the three rounds of data collection (Q1). Many respondents assert that aid providers are not coming to the people with the relevant information, and the lack of phone and internet service is preventing them from accessing information (Q9);
- Respondents say they would like to receive information about available support during face-to-meetings with providers and through phone calls (Q2);
- Most of those interviewed do not know how to make complaints about the support they are receiving (011).