标签： Dominican Republic

In Santo Domingo, a broad coalition of civil society groups has launched a high-profile campaign pushing Dominican Republic authorities to label the ongoing crisis of femicide and gender-based violence as a formal national emergency. Spearheaded by the Coalition for Women’s Rights and Life, the movement has already garnered signatures from more than 80 organizations, alongside leading academics, grassroots activists, and ordinary concerned citizens. The push comes in response to alarming new data showing that at least 32 women have lost their lives to gender-motivated killings in just the first five months of 2026, a trend that has sparked widespread public outcry over systemic failures to protect women across the country.

The official open letter at the heart of the campaign, titled “Not One Less! Women’s Lives Demand State, Justice and Education for Equality,” lays out the urgent need for coordinated, cross-government action to tackle what organizers frame as a deep-rooted systemic crisis, rather than a string of isolated events. To expand public participation and amplify pressure on decision-makers, the Coalition has launched a dedicated public portal at feminicidios.do, where any Dominican citizen can add their name in support of the demands.

The document outlines a clear, multi-pronged policy agenda that goes far beyond a simple emergency declaration. Signatories are calling for the passage of a sweeping national law dedicated to preventing and penalizing all forms of violence against women, as well as independent, third-party audits of current response systems operated by the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office. Additional demands include harsher and more consistent prosecution of perpetrators, the immediate removal of any police or military personnel facing accusations of gender-based violence, a major expansion of accessible emergency shelters and long-term support programs for survivors, and the mandatory integration of gender equality education into national school curricula.

In a statement accompanying the letter, Coalition leaders stressed that repeated femicides across the country cannot be dismissed as random, individual acts of violence. Instead, they argue, these deaths are the direct outcome of long-standing institutional failures to proactively prevent harm and provide effective protection for at-risk women. The campaign also addresses overlooked secondary harms of the crisis, calling for targeted, comprehensive support for children left orphaned by femicide killings, as well as a substantial increase in public funding for both the Ministry of Women and community-based violence prevention initiatives operating across all regions of the country.

Organizers are continuing to ramp up outreach to recruit additional signatories, including more national organizations, professional associations, local community leaders, and everyday citizens. They emphasize that ending violence against women cannot be achieved through piecemeal actions; it requires a unified, nationwide response and sustained, long-term public policies centered on three core pillars: prevention, accessible justice, and consistent protection for all women.

Senior government leaders in the Dominican Republic have formally opened the final phase of a sweeping waterfront redevelopment project along the capital’s eastern coast, capping off a public investment initiative designed to boost local quality of life and national tourism. On Wednesday, President Luis Abinader joined Tourism Minister David Collado in Santo Domingo to inaugurate the second phase of the Santo Domingo East Boardwalk reconstruction, bringing the multi-stage transformation to an official close.

The full revitalization effort has carried a total public investment price tag of more than 685 million Dominican pesos, with the second and final phase alone accounting for 314.4 million pesos in spending. The completed project stretches 4.1 continuous kilometers along the Avenida España coastal corridor, running from the Dominican Naval Base in the north to the Las Américas Highway in the south. In total, the redevelopment has delivered more than 237,000 square meters of new public recreational and green space for local communities and visitors.

Speaking to attendees at the inauguration ceremony, President Abinader underlined the far-reaching benefits the project will deliver for three key local sectors: tourism, public recreation, and urban development across Santo Domingo East. He framed the newly renovated boardwalk as a world-class, accessible public gathering space that will serve both long-term residents of the area and the thousands of domestic and international tourists who visit the Dominican capital each year.

For his part, Tourism Minister David Collado noted that the boardwalk project is not an isolated initiative, but a core component of the Ministry of Tourism’s national strategy to restore and modernize waterfront and coastal public spaces across every region of the Dominican Republic. Collado emphasized that integrated coastal development serves dual purposes: it strengthens community connection to public natural spaces, while also expanding the country’s tourism infrastructure to attract more visitors and drive long-term economic growth.

The comprehensive infrastructure intervention included a wide range of public works beyond new green and recreational space. Construction crews built new pedestrian sidewalks, dedicated bicycle lanes, internal access roads, and landscaped central medians along the corridor. The project also added 11 new public parking areas, multiple open recreational plazas, new public urban furniture, upgraded stormwater drainage systems, and modernized electrical infrastructure to support public operations and safety along the boardwalk.

The inauguration ceremony drew a broad cross-section of public and community stakeholders, including municipal and provincial government leaders from the Santo Domingo East region, senior national government officials, and representatives from local business, community, and tourism sectors. Attendees framed the completed project as a landmark public investment that will deliver tangible benefits to the region for decades to come.

In Santo Domingo, the Dominican government has partnered with two leading global organizations – the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – to unveil the preliminary outcomes of an ambitious nationwide social initiative focused on combating entrenched gender inequality. The four-year project, titled “Changing Gender Norms for the Prevention of Violence and Early Unions,” launched in 2022 and runs through 2025, with a core mission to cut rates of child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and gender-based violence across the country.

Backed by a total investment exceeding $4.5 million USD, the initiative was built through coordinated action across multiple Dominican public bodies falling under the national Cabinet for Children and Adolescents (known locally as GANA). Key implementing partners include the nation’s Ministries of Education and Women, the National Council for Childhood and Adolescence (CONANI), and the Supérate social welfare program, with overall oversight managed by the Ministry of the Presidency.

Intervention activities were concentrated in five high-need regions across the Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo, Santiago, San Cristóbal, Higüey, and Barahona. The project centered on four core strategic pillars: building personal and economic autonomy for girls and young adolescents, expanding evidence-based prevention programming within local school systems, driving widespread cultural and behavioral change around gender roles, and strengthening national institutional protection systems for survivors of violence.

Project leaders noted that one of the initiative’s most significant achievements has been its successful institutional transition. What began as a time-bound external intervention has since been fully integrated into the operations of existing Dominican public institutions, creating a sustainable framework that will outlast the original project timeline and open pathways for full nationwide expansion in the coming years.

The preliminary results released at the presentation show the initiative has already reached millions of Dominicans across all segments of society. More than 10,000 girls and adolescents have completed empowerment and life skills training through dedicated Girls’ Clubs established under the program. Over 190,000 teenage students have participated in school-based workshops addressing the harms of early marriage and gender-based violence. More than 5,000 primary and secondary school teachers have received specialized training to identify at-risk youth and support adolescents navigating gender-related challenges, while national awareness campaigns and community outreach efforts have reached more than one million parents and local community leaders.

A unique and key component of the project has been its intentional focus on engaging men and boys as partners in cultural change: to date, more than 51,000 men and boys have taken part in workshops focused on promoting positive masculinity and equitable gender norms. Additionally, over 1,300 public sector officials have completed training in child protection protocols, cross-agency coordination, and evidence-based prevention strategies.

Project officials emphasized that the initiative directly advances existing national policy goals. It supports the implementation of the Dominican Republic’s national Policy for the Prevention and Care of Early Unions and Adolescent Pregnancy, and aligns with ongoing enforcement efforts following the 2021 passage of Law 1-21, which formally banned child marriage across the country.

Speaking at the official results presentation, Sook Jin Byun, Country Director for KOICA, stressed that meaningful shifts in harmful social norms cannot be achieved through short-term projects, requiring consistent, long-term investment and engagement. Carlos Carrera, UNICEF’s Representative in the Dominican Republic, framed the initiative as a powerful proof of concept, demonstrating that coordinated collaboration between national governments, local communities, and global development partners can meaningfully expand life opportunities for marginalized girls and adolescents.

Dominican authorities closed the presentation by noting that the project lays critical institutional and social groundwork to accelerate progress toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the target to eliminate all harmful practices including early child marriage by 2030. They reiterated that sustained investment and continued expansion of prevention and protection programs across the country remains a critical priority to lock in long-term change.