United Nations Development Programme Jamaica

UNDP Jamaica contributed to the video testimonies which were a valuable resource in the drafting of the first Report of the Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System (GIVAS), entitled: "Voices of the Vulnerable: The Economic Crisis from the Ground Up." The Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon presented the Report to Heads of State and Government at the opening of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly on 23 September, and made the Report a special focus of his state luncheon on the same day. 

The Report highlights the urgent need to strengthen our capacities to provide decision-makers with real-time information on how global crises affect our poorest and most vulnerable populations. It also bears vivid testament to the central role UN Country Teams can play in the further development of the GIVAS.

Jamaica's video testimony highlights Malcolm Rattray, who runs a barbershop in Vinyard Town, in Kingston, and who feels a dramatic impact from the crisis in both his business and his personal life. Click here to see how he's coping with these changes.