Single-Year Assistance Program (SYAP) FY 2013-2014 Results Report

The program aimed to address the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations, including batey communities, urban barrios, rural slums, and impoverished border localities. The program targeted 20,700 food-insecure beneficiaries, with a focus on individuals living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, children, elderly, and households caring for HIV orphaned and vulnerable children. The program distributed 150 metric tons of take-home, easy-to-prepare, shelf-stable supplementary Breedlove Harvest Lentil Pro food rations to beneficiaries over a period of 12 months. The distribution strategy involved partnering with 24 local implementing NGOs and distributing food packets to patients at BRA's medical clinics, as well as to families in designated bateyes. The amount of food given to each family was calculated based on size and need, with those having an HIV-positive family member, large amount of children, or a family member shown to be extremely malnourished receiving food packets on a weekly basis. BRA's comprehensive approach to addressing food insecurity included providing micronutrients, antiparasitic medications, low-cost food supplies, Procter and Gamble's P&G Children Safe Drinking Water purification packets, comprehensive health services, health workshops, vocational training, home visits from BRA Community Health Promoters, and access to social support networks. The program also used the USAID food distribution as an incentive for children and their families to visit or return to BRA Medical Center for regular medical checkups or follow-ups. The program's activities offered additional opportunities to reach additional families in need, with thousands of food rations distributed through health facilities, community centers, and schools to promote increased utilization of existing services, particularly among pregnant women, malnourished children, the elderly, and PLWHA. BRA continued to work through strategic partnerships with the Dominican Ministry of Health and 24 organizations, including those formerly associated with the USAID/PEPFAR Project, to strengthen HIV/AIDS services and USAID's AIDS-STAR ONE Program. The program's geographic focus was on 16 provinces in the Dominican Republic, with a particular emphasis on the bateyes, which are rural sugarcane communities of Dominican and Haitian immigrant farm workers. The program's timeframes were from November 2013 to November 2014, with a focus on addressing the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations during this period. The program's recommendations for future initiatives include continuing to support the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations, particularly in the bateyes, and strengthening partnerships with local organizations to promote increased utilization of existing services.