Statement - reaffirmation of UNDP's support to Jamaica - UNDP RR Denise Antonio

June 17, 2019

Denise Antonio, newly appointed UNDP Resident Representative for Jamaica

Greetings colleagues and friends, I am deeply honoured to have been appointed the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative to beautiful Jamaica.

I am very grateful for the warm and hospitable reception that I have received so far and welcome the opportunity to potentially contribute to the development of a country poised for further greatness.

Let me assure you that UNDP will continue to work under our guiding principle of “leaving no one behind and reaching the farthest first” within its 3 broad development settings of:

  • Eradicating poverty in all forms and dimensions and keep people out of poverty
  • Accelerating structural transformation for sustainable development especially through innovative solutions that have a multiplier effect across the SDGs and lastly
  • Building resilience to shocks and crises in order to safeguard development gains

Within these development settings, our focus will circle around 6 signature solutions which are very much aligned with the national priorities of Jamaica’s Vision 2030:

1.   Keep people out of poverty

2.   strengthened, effective, inclusive and accountable governance

3.   Enhance national prevention and recovery capacities for a resilient society from socioeconomic and/or natural causes)

4.   Promote nature-based solutions for a sustainable planet

5.   Close the energy gap  

6.   Strengthen gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls

These can only be achieved through the strong partnership and collaboration with Government and other key stakeholders.

As part and parcel of the Next Generation UNDP, we will strengthen and refocus our efforts to be agile, innovative and efficient in delivering results that matter to the government and people of Jamaica. We will partner with the Government to enhance Productivity, Inclusion and Resilience, buttressed by Effective Governance.

I look forward to a productive and rewarding tour of duty in Jamaica and to working with you all to make Jamaica the place of choice to live work, raise families and do business. Thank you.