The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) is sending 1.1 million euros in aid for drought relief in the Dominican Republic this year. ECHO says that the last two years of drought have had a severe impact on the country with irregular rainfall causing loss of livestock and crops. A third year of patchy rainfall and lack of food and water would affect the livelihoods of 429,000 people throughout the Caribbean, adds the European Commission entity.
Overall, the European Commission has allocated 12.2 million euros of this contribution to Haiti, 1.1 million euros to the Dominican Republic and 600,000 euros to Cuba.
According to ECHO, poverty is already an issue for many people in the country, even without drought hurting their communities. The CIA estimated in 2013 that 41% of Dominicans live below the poverty line.
http://reliefweb.int/report/dominican-republic/european-union-provides-support-caribbean-cope-drought
