The implementation of the projects was not without challenges, as the Mining and Quarrying Association was unable to provide the anticipated level of support due to capacity constraints. However, stakeholders interviewed all expressed appreciation for the critical contribution of UNDP in this area. The results achieved are significant and play an important role in advancing the development minerals sector in Jamaica.
2.5 Other findings/cross-cutting issues Finding 12: UNDP has been able to align its programme with national sustainable development priorities and needs, and is considered a reliable and trusted partner by stakeholders, with particular strengths in broad-based development and SDG monitoring, financing and implementation, as well as environment and climate change and prompt response in crises. One of UNDP’s most notable strengths mentioned by interviewed stakeholders is its broad-based development mandate and the strong alignment of the UNDP programme with national priorities in Vision 2030 Jamaica. This is evidenced in UNDP’s specific role and strong positioning in work related to the SDGs, where it is considered by both the government and the UN as the key actor in the implementation and monitoring of Agenda 2030. UNDP’s positioning in this area traces back to its support to the Millennium Development Goals and builds on UNDP’s technical expertise, coordination and implementation support provided during the rapid integration assessment and mainstreaming, acceleration and policy support mission. This led to the development of the SDG Implementation Roadmap and subsequent actions to support SDG advancement, financing and monitoring. UNDP is considered a key partner for the government in the area of environment and climate change, given its ability to mobilize partnerships, and its access to funding, technical expertise and policy support, which the government considers highly relevant and effective. Stakeholder interviews demonstrated that overall, UNDP is visible and well-positioned in 107
this area. As a highly indebted country, government priority is servicing the debt and alleviating the debt burden, so UNDP’s ability to provide and help the government to access grant funding is an important advantage. In the environment and climate change area, UNDP has been able to support the government to mobilize important funding, mainly through GEF. In other areas, such as governance, citizen security and social protection, though UNDP’s access to donor funding is more limited than in environment and climate change, it is still considered an important strength, for example, funding from the Government of Canada, the Human Security Trust Fund, the Caribbean Development Bank and the SDG fund. Through its past work with local governments supporting parish safety and security committees, and with the justice sector, UNDP is seen by most of the government, CSOs and UN partners as being well-positioned to support ongoing local government and justice reform processes, and enhance the capacity of rule-of-law institutions and civil society to prevent violence, particularly against women and children.107 Likewise, its ability to combine upstream and downstream work and mobilize partnerships at the community level is valued by the government, which has requested and expected UNDP to engage more actively at the local level, while appreciating its policy advisory support. UNDP’s strength also includes its ability to adapt to working with local communities and its presence on the ground where it has a competitive advantage over agencies like the World Bank. Other UNDP strengths include its experience in policy and programme development and ability to create links and partnerships globally, through UNDP corporate partnership networks and expertise. Stakeholders at local and central levels also mention UNDP’s transparency and its reporting and monitoring requirements, which they mostly consider as a strength, although some say that these requirements can also be an impediment when applied disproportionally to small entities, especially CSOs, or without consideration of the government’s own reporting
CPD for Jamaica (2017-2021).
CHAPTER 2: FINDINGS
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