National Country Assessment & Prioritization Workshop

Vision 2030 Jamaica Jamaica Country Assessment & National Prioritization Workshop May 2012

Inside Day 1 - Setting the Context/ P2–3 Selecting Priorities Day 2 - Completing the Process P 3 - 4 - Next Steps

Prioritizing the National Priorities for 2012-2015

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Workshop Objectives 1.

To arrive at consensus on the main development issues and challenges to be addressed over the next medium term (three year) period 2012 -2015

2.

To articulate the country’s key national priorities and related strategies for the next three years within the context of a new Medium Term SocioEconomic Policy Framework

pproximately 140 participants representing the public and private sectors, civil society organizations and the International Development community, attended the two-day Vision 2030 Jamaica Country Assessment and National Prioritization Workshop on

Wednesday, April 11 & Thursday, April 12, 2012 at the Knutsford Court Hotel, Kingston. Hosted by the Planning Institute of Jamaica, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Planning and Office of the Cabinet, the event was part of the consultative and inclusive process for the development of the new Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) for Jamaica over the period 2012-2015.

The overall objective of the Workshop was to obtain broad stakeholder consensus on the main economic, social, governance and environmental issues, and the national priorities for Jamaica’s development over the medium term. As such, participants comprised senior tech-

P 4

Participants  Public Sector

nical officers from Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), senior officers from private

 Private Sector

sector organizations including Small Business Association, and civil society groups, including

 Civil Society Organizations

NGOs, Trade Union, faith-based and community-based organizations; Jamaica Diaspora and Returning Residents Foundations; and academia.

At the end of the two-days, participants agreed on a list of priority issues under the following clusters: National Security, Justice, Accountability and Human Rights; Education, Training, Youth Development, Early Childhood Development and Parenting; Unemployment, Growth and Tax Reform; Natural Environment, Energy, Waste Management and Land Use Planning; Poverty and Social Protection; Productivity and Business Environment; and Science, Technology and Innovation.

 International Development Partners

DAY 1 - Setting the Context...Selecting Priorities Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Dr. Wesley Hughes; PIOJ Sustainable Development Specialist, Ms. Claire Bernard representing Director General, Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson and Mr. Everton McFarlane, Deputy Director General, PIOJ, were among several speakers who helped to establish the context within which the Workshop was being held.

Programme Director, Vision 2030 Jamaica, Mr. Richard Lumsden, in his PowerPoint presentation, provided participants with the requisite background information for selecting what in their estimation would be the priority issues and challenges for the country over the 2012 to 2015 period.

M

r. Lumsden presented an overview of the Plan development and implementation process. He reminded participants that Vision 2030 Jamaica was the country’s first long-term national development the overall aim of which is to position Jamaica to achieve developed country status by 2030.

Participants were also reminded of the structure of the Plan .

In relation to the purpose of the workshop, Mr. Lumsden noted that the Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) which presents three-year packages of Priority Outcomes, Strategies, Actions and Programmes was the main mechanism to operationalize the implementation of Vision 2030 Jamaica. The first MTF he reminded had now come to an end as it had been developed for FY2009/2010 – FY2011/2012 and as FY2011/2012.

There was therefore the need for the preparation of the second MTF for FY2012/2013 – FY2014/2015; the national priority areas for which the Workshop would be helping to determine.

Mr. Lumsden informed participants of the methodology that would be used in determining these national priorities for 2012 – 2015, which included individual and working group sessions.

In preparing participants for the individual and working group prioritization activities, Mr. Lumsden provided the following as the context within which the new MTF was being prepared:

   

Jamaica’s 50th year of Independence Period, one of challenge and opportunities for Jamaica Jamaica in new discussions with the IMF The Government introducing complementary reforms in budgeting, monitoring and evaluation

Criteria for Selecting Priorities The common were:

selection

criteria

 Which issues affect the most people the most deeply

 Which issues impose the greatest costs on society

 Which issues hold back development in many areas (binding constraints)  Which issues offer quick wins in the short to medium term  Which issues, if addressed, offer the greatest transformational benefits in the long run

Methodology for Prioritization 1.

2.

Individual selection Group selection

In order to achieve a shortlist of six (6) or seven (7) priorities: 1. Each participant was presented with a list of Developmental Issues/Challenges based on each of the four National Goals under Vision 2030 Jamaica from which to select what he/she considered the top 10 priorities. These were later ranked according to number of votes received for each.

2. Participants, divided into seven working groups, and each group was required to arrive at a consensus on the top 10 priorities

DAY 1 - Setting the Context … Selecting Priorities (Cont’d) Priorities Identified

by Individual Participants

# of Votes

High levels of crime & violence

59

Inefficient Justice system

40

Inadequate education & train-

40

Weakened family and parenting

40

High unemployment

39

Inefficient tax system

32

Inadequate early childhood

29

Threats to natural environment

27

Low economic growth rate

27

Lack of energy security and

27

Working Group Prioritization Following discussions and deliberations within a randomly selected group context, seven priorities were identified by each group and were then presented at the plenary session.

Clusters 

The discussions revealed a high level of consistency between the priorities identified at the individual and group levels. As a result, participants proposed that the two set of priorities be integrated and arranged to form clusters. The PIOJ team was then tasked to collate the results, integrate and arrange them into clusters, and then send the output via email to the workshop participants ahead of the proceedings for Day 2.

Seven clusters were

arrived at comprising the results of individual participants’ selections which were collated, integrated and arranged by the PIOJ to form the basis of Working Group action planning and deliberation

DAY 2 - Completing the Process ...

Methodology used to identify actions for each of the seven clusters

O

n Day 2, participants completed the selection process by working in seven groups which were aligned to each of the seven (7) identified priorities.

Participants selected a group based on their preferences and areas of expertise and then identified actions based on their related cluster.

Following are the processes used to identify the actions:

1. Brainstorming the actions needed for the next three (3) years to address the issues relating to each cluster 2. Proactively selecting the five (5) actions that will have the most impact based on the group process:  actions that will produce the results in the three-year period;  actions that will yield results in the longterm to solve the issues being currently observed in relation to each priority area.

Outcome of Working Group Sessions The seven (7) working groups identified and presented, during the Plenary session, the top five (5) actions that needed to be implemented to address the key issues affecting each cluster. It is expected that the identified actions will yield short- term results or begin to address issues that will yield the desired results over the long-term.

There was consensus among participants that issues relating to the Diaspora should be treated as underlying or cross-cutting. Actions to enhance Diaspora involvement should therefore be included in the framing and implementation of all development-related activities. Participants also underscored the importance of the Diaspora in providing a wealth of human, physical and financial resources as well as ideas that can contribute to the development of the higher forms of capital to which Vision 2030 Jamaica aspires.

Day 2 Objective Identify the top five (5) actions that needed to be included in the new MTF and under each of the priority areas.

The Seven Clusters 1. National Security, Justice, Accountability and Human Rights 2. Education, Training, Youth Development, Early Childhood Development and Parenting 3. Unemployment, Growth and Tax Reform 4. Natural Environment, Energy, Waste Management and Land Use Planning 5. Poverty and Social Protection 6. Productivity and Business Environment 7. Science, Technology and Innovation

DAY 2 - Completing the Process ... Cont’d)

MTF 2012 - 2015

The Workshop concluded with a Plenary session during which the seven groups presented the Priority Areas identified under each Cluster and the actions identified to address these.

No differing or minority positions were reported by the groups, which reflected the high degree of consensus that was accomplished throughout the groups’ deliberations.

Will provide:

During the final Plenary, participants agreed that issues relating to the Diaspora would be treated as underlying or cross-cutting and that actions to enhance their involvement should be included in the framing and implementation of all development-related activities. The Workshop acknowledged and stressed the importance of tapping into the wealth of human, physical and financial resources as well as ideas that the Diaspora can contribute to the development of the higher forms of capital to which Vision 2030 Jamaica aspires.

Below are the Priority Areas identified by each Cluster for which the actions were presented.

N.B. For actions based on each Priority Area identified under each Cluster, please see the comprehensive Workshop Report on www.visio2030.gov.jm.

Cluster Areas 1. National Security, Justice, Accountability and Human Rights



A planning framework for preparation of fiscal budgets for FY2012/2013 – 2014/2015



The framework to align strategic plans and budgets of government ministries and agencies with Vision 2030 Jamaica for the next three years



National and sector priorities to guide and coordinate development efforts and initiatives of stakeholders across the board for 2012 – 2015

Priority Areas Human Rights Accountability Justice National Security

2. Education, Training, Youth Development, Early Childhood Development and Parenting

Parenting Early Childhood Development Youth Development

3. Unemployment, Growth and Tax Reform

Unemployment, Growth and Tax Reform

4. Natural Environment, Energy, Waste Management and Land Use Planning

Natural Environment, Energy, Waste Management and Land Use Planning

5. Poverty and Social Protection

Poverty and Social Protection

3

6. Productivity and Business Environment

Productivity and Business Environment

4

7. Science, Technology and

Science, Technology and Innovation

5

Innovation

NEXT STEPS 1 2

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) THE PLANNING INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA 16 Oxford Rd Kingston 5, Jamaica WI 876-960 9339/935 5148 ph 876-906 5011 fax www.vision2030.gov.jm www.pioj.gov.jm