United Nations Development Programme Jamaica

According to international seismic expert, Dr. Eric Calais, “Jamaica must prepare for large earthquakes”. Dr. Eric Calais is an international seismic expert who visited Jamaica to conduct a Seismic Exploratory Mission from 25th - 28th of March 2013. Dr. Calais’ Mission was fully supported by the UNDP through its Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC) under the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Reduction (BCPR) portfolio, and coordinated and facilitated by the local team at the Jamaica Country Office.

[Discussions at the Earthquake Unit, University of the West Indies, Mona. L-R: Ms. Sasha Shirley and Dr. Elsie Laurence-Chounoune of UNDP; Mr. Rafi Ahmad, Geography and Geology Department, Dr. Parris Lyew-Ayee of Mona Geoinforamtics , Dr. Eric Calais and Dr. Lyndon Brown, Head of the Earthquake Unit]

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Jamaica Country Office and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Jamaica, came together on Thursday 21 March 2013 in celebration of International Day of Forests and the Tree, to plant fruit trees on the compound shared by both these agencies.

[Arun Kashyap, UN RC/UNDP RR; Elsie Laurence-Chounoune, UNDP DRR a.i., along with staff members' children planting & watering trees]

It is true that we are able to achieve much greater impact when we pool our efforts and work together on joint programmes as one United Nations System operating in Jamaica. Congratulatory messages flooded in from all corners (including the Planning Institute of Jamaica) for the successful high profile dissemination of the UN’s key messages for International Women’s Day 2013 via various media on Friday, 8th of March. Joan French of UN Women thanked UNDP and the other partners for “holding hands together across the UN System to strengthen (development) efforts for Jamaica”.

[Joan French, UN Women]

Sadly, crime and violence within homes, schools and communities are among the most pressing social issues currently affecting Jamaica. There have been numerous challenges in achieving and sustaining good governance at the community level. The inability to properly articulate local needs with national institutional responses, have hampered efforts to achieve the desired levels of community safety in Jamaica. The UNDP-supported nationally implemented project, “Enhancing Civil Society Participation in Local Governance for Community Safety”, which is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government & Community Development, takes a citizen security approach to developing sustainable long-term strategies that focus on improved partnerships between civil society, local authorities, and central state agencies to prevent and mitigate the effects of crime and violence level.

[Attendees at the launch of the St. Catherine Parish Safety & Security Committee]

In trying to effectively reduce the spread of HIV in Jamaica, it is significant to note that in ensuring access to HIV-related prevention and treatment services, the right kind of legal environment must exist. This legal environment should not support the criminalization of persons living with HIV and groups of persons who are most vulnerable to HIV. The legal environment should not contain laws or policies that sustain and support violence and discrimination, or a system of practices that facilitates or impedes access to HIV treatment.

The Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (being implemented by UNDP) has awarded the Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation approximately J$4 million dollars to fund the NGO’s biodiversity project entitled “Establishment of Sanctuaries for Protected Flora & Fauna and Providing Energy Efficient Transportation for Educational Tours”. The injection of these funds into the project will further assist in ensuring the sustainability of animal species which are endemic to Jamaica and are under the threat of extinction.

[The Endangered Jamaican Iguana (Cyclura collei)]

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have launched an open competition to select the global campaign theme to mark International Anti-Corruption Day 2013, which will be celebrated on December 9, 2013.

The Closing Ceremony for the third and final cohort in the Energy Conservation and Efficiency Training Programme took place on November 19, 2012 at the PCJ Auditorium in Kingston, Jamaica. This training programme was designed to equip participants with skills in public sector energy efficiency and conservation, which has been celebrated in the International Year of Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL).

On Friday January 11, 2013 the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative, Dr. Arun Kashyap, and High School students that participated in the Model Assembly, paid a Courtesy Call on His Excellency, Sir Patrick Allen, Governor General of Jamaica, after they had already presented him with a copy of the Report on the 37th UN Model Assembly on Climate Change, at King’s House in Kingston.

Over sixty five (65) participants, including the Minister, Permanent Secretary and Chief Technical Director of Ministry of Water, Land Environment and Climate Change, and Climate Change Negotiators, gathered on Tuesday December 18th, 2012 at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, for the Eighth Roundtable Series on Climate Change, which was a debriefing seminar on the Eighteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 18) and the Eighth Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 8), which was held in Doha, Qatar between November 27 and December 7, 2012, as well as a debriefing on the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which was held in Brazil in June 2012.