Government Information Service

by Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service

Officials of the Dominica Social Investment Fund (DSIF) have been commended for their efforts to improve the quality of life of the vulnerable groups in Dominica. The commendation has come from the main donors of the fund, the European Union.

On Wednesday, 18th March, 2009, two (2) officials of the European Commission in Barbados accompanied by representatives of DSIF paid visits to a number of DSIF funded projects across the country. Among the projects visited on Wednesday were the National Children’s Home Place of Safety in Jimmit, the CALLS Centre in Portsmouth and the Isulukati Learning Centre in the Carib Territory.

In an interview with GIS National Focus on Wednesday, Bob Baldwin, First Councillor at the European Commission Office in Barbados, explained the European Union’s reason for funding the DSIF initiative.

“The money which the European Union has given to the Social Investment Fund has come from a fund which was set up due to the problems in the banana industry in the Eastern Caribbean. This was money which was intended to help those communities suffering from the difficulties caused by the economic downturn in relation to banana trade. We had been interested in providing money to the Social Investment Fund because we thought that it would be the local organisations of Dominica that would have the ability to target properly those communities and those individuals who were the most affected by these difficulties.”

The European Commission official is impressed with the level of work done by DSIF since it began two years ago.
“And so today, we have come around in other to have a look at those things which we have already seen on paper but to get an idea of how the money has been used. We have been quite impressed by what we have seen. We have seen support to people within the communities who are often at most disadvantaged: the elderly, young children, those with disabilities. With sometimes modest fairly modest injections of cash, we have seen that it can make a big difference in their daily lives. I would say that we are quite satisfied that these funds are going through to the individuals and communities we are trying to target.”

Mr. Baldwin said he is looking forward to the continuation of the project even after official funding from the European Union is over.

“We have already programmed our future aid with Dominica over the coming years. We will not be able to continue our support but the funds which already given to it, we have enabled it to be set up and carry out a long list of projects. The funds which we gave was 4.4 million Euros which is around fifteen million East Caribbean Dollars (XCD$15 000 000.00). This was a considerable start and we would certainly be interested in one form or another that this work continue.”

In the meantime, Marcus Francis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DSIF, is very pleased with the work done thus far and its impact on the lives of Dominicans.

“We are very satisfied with the level of investment that DSIF has been making in Dominica. DSIF works with a lot of vulnerable groups to include the elderly, children at risk, youth at risk, Carib Communities, women and the disabled. All of our investments have been made in all of these areas to positively impact the lives of all of these vulnerable groups.

Today, for us, is a good day as we go all around just identifying where we are in the project implementation, to see some of the projects in action, to see some of our people whose lives have been positively affected by these projects, to interact with them, to hear from them and to give the funders an opportunity to hear from them themselves.

DSIF is every grateful to the Government of Dominica for this initiative and to the European Union for providing the finance for this project and we can definitely say that the impact of DSIF in Dominica is realised. The full impact will be seen as we go from generation to generation.”

Mr. Francis also spoke of future plans by DSIF to make further contributions to the island’s vulnerable groups.

“We are in the process of fund raising. We have an additional twenty-seven (27) to thirty (30) projects to the tune of 5 – 7 million East Caribbean dollars, very viable projects that will definitely impact positively on poverty in Dominica. As a board, we are in the process of raising funds through various donor agencies to ensure that these projects are implemented. As a result, we will be able to see the alleviating of poverty and the improving of living conditions for many more Dominicans over the next couple of years.

DSIF is well on its way and the need for the Social Investment Fund has been well established. We are very hopeful that we will raise sufficient funds to continue this programme for years to come.”

Over the past two (2) years, the Dominica Social Investment Fund has approved a total of thirty (37) projects to the tune of just under ten (10) million East Caribbean dollars in twenty (20) communities around Dominica along with national projects. Out of this, eight have been successfully completed. To date, DSIF has spent 1.476 million dollars (XCD$1 467 702.03) on projects across the island.