COVID-19 Post-Disaster Needs Assessment: Bonaire Socioeconomic Assessment - March-December 2020

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and called on countries to activate and expand response mechanisms. In response, the Governor of Bonaire announced the first measures on March 14. With those measures began initiatives to safeguard the population and to support their livelihoods.

Bonaire is particularly susceptible to the downturn in the global economy resulting from the pandemic and measures such as border closures. The variety of economic activities is limited and tourism dependent, which makes Bonaire economically vulnerable. Thus, the national and local governments aimed to address the key challenges of maintaining the capacity for care, preventing a financial and economic downturn, and maintaining public order and safety. Transport connections and border controls were secured to access necessary support and to prevent virus spread through irregular crossings.

The purpose of this assessment was to define a comprehensive program of recovery because of the effects and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people and economy of Bonaire. The scope of the study entailed an examination of all sectors of the economy to capture the change in flows resulting from the disruption of production, access to goods and services, and the direct and indirect costs of management of the pandemic. Some of these costs are health-related but many are social costs to buffer households from the full effects of the pandemic. The study required the collection of quantitative data at the sector level about the situation before and during the event. Data constraints have guided the assessment towards the productive and infrastructure sectors of the economy. The cross-cutting issues of disaster risk financing, gender and the environment have also been examined.