the protection of sexual and reproductive rights and the protection of pregnant or lactating women of Haitian descent. 28. Likewise, Dominican law guarantees the right to health and education to children, without discrimination based on national origin, immigration status or lack of identity documents.131 However, at least three cases of denial of paediatric services to descendants of foreign parents have been documented in the eastern region of the country.132 On the other hand, despite the national law and the will expressed by the Ministry of Education (MINERD),133 the discretionary application of a measure that requires presenting documents that are difficult to obtain, such as a copy of the birth certificate or a multiple entry visa, contravenes equal and effective access to education.134 Likewise, it has been reported that children of Haitian descent have been subjected to discrimination by directors or teachers who did not want to enrol them in public schools.135 Thus, these children and adolescents face obstacles to accessing education at all stages of their school career. Stateless children and adolescents cannot receive a school diploma or access university.136 Thus, the reality of access to education for children and adolescents of Haitian origin is far from the applicable standards.137 29. Access to social services has been particularly restricted in the context of the pandemic for people of Haitian origin. In response to the health crisis, the Government adopted assistance programmes to mitigate the loss of income of individuals and companies in the formal and informal sectors.138 However, migrants and denationalized people have not been able to benefit from them due to lack of Dominican documentation.139 This exclusion exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the country.140 The loss of jobs in the formal sector and the limited circulation of money in the informal sector disproportionately affected Haitian migrants.141 Only 10% of the people in “Group A” were able to access the program called “Stay at Home”.142 The above is added to the closure of the offices in charge of naturalization applications and renewal of immigration documents during the pandemic, which exacerbates exclusion.143 La mayoría de los NNA de origen haitiano no pudieron seguir la educación a distancia durante la pandemia por falta de acceso a la electricidad, internet y a un acompañamiento educativo en casa144. Despite the challenges during the pandemic, we see that the State did not take 131 Code for the Protection System and Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents, Law 136-03, Articles 28 and 45. Ad-hoc coalition of civil society organizations. Joint Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the situation of children and adolescents in the Dominican Republic, with emphasis on the rights to nationality, equality, non-discrimination, and access to education and health. 2023. P. 19. 133 Diario Libre, Minerd will register those who do not have a birth certificate, available at: https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/nacional/2023/07/26/ano-escolar-2023-2024-acogera-a-carentes-de-actas/2414952. 134 OBMICA and UNICEF, A new look at children on the move on the Dominican-Haitian border, May 31, 2023, pp. 9, 16. 135 Ibid. 136 US Department of State Annual Report on Human Rights Dominican Republic. 2022. P. 20. 137 Immigration policy. The theory is far from reality, available at: :https://politicamigratoria3.wixsite.com/pomig. 138 Covid-19 Emergency Statelessness Fund (CESF) Consortium. Together We Can: The Covid-19 Impact on Stateless People & a Roadmap for Change. June 2021. P. 45. 139 Ibid. 140 FES and OBMICA. Coronavirus and Preexisting Inequalities: Mobilities in the Dominican Republic. September 2020. P. 5. 141 Bridget Wooding and Allison Petrozziello, “Impacts of COVID-19 on the Haitian population and their descendants in the Southern Zone of the Dominican Republic” (Santo Domingo: OBMICA, June 2021),p. 22 available at: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A90b26a53-0248-4ca6-848e0c392aa9fa8c#pageNum=1. 142 Ibid, P. 6. 143 OBMICA, Dignified Treatment: New challenges for Due Process in Deportations from the Dominican Republic. February, 2023. P. 21. Likewise, mobility restrictions limited the ability of Haitian migrants to recover their documentation. Covid-19 Emergency Statelessness Fund (CESF) Consortium. Together We Can: The Covid-19 Impact on Stateless People & a Roadmap for Change. June 2021. P. 44. 144 Bridget Wooding and Allison Petrozziello, “Impacts of COVID-19 on the Haitian population and their descendants in the Southern Zone of the Dominican Republic” (Santo Domingo: OBMICA, June 2021), p. 24 , available at: 132 12