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Jamaica Delivers Second Voluntary National Report on the SDGs to the UN – July 15

Jamaica Delivers Second Voluntary National Report on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the UN – July 15

 

United Nations: July 15
On Friday July 15, Jamaica delivered its second Voluntary National Report (VNR) to the United Nations High Level Political Forum, which highlights the achievements and challenges towards achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are aligned with Vision 2030 Jamaica – National Development Goals.

This report is considered to contain the most far-reaching and up-to-date data on development indicators on Jamaica as it uses national and data from consultation with stakeholders, and also considers the impact of COVID-19 on key sectors. It also highlights steps that must be taken to recover development gains that were lost due to COVID-19 and actions that can accelerate development where possible.

The report includes data and analysis on the social economic and environmental tenets of sustainable development including poverty, education, health, labour market, growth, biodiversity among others. It also presents the new and emerging challenges that impact development.

National economic and social data up to 2021 includes youth participation, sustainable tourism, the distribution of the rural population, categories of major crimes by parish, while also informing on environmental data such as change in forest cover and number of forest management plans approved. For the potential for economic growth the report includes development of the national broadband initiative; formats of electricity generation; value of residential mortgages; and debt to GDP ratio.

Jamaica showcased its consultative culture for development initiatives and also achievements towards gender parity. The report up-fronts Jamaica’s challenges in the development policy and implementation framework.

An acknowledged weakness is ongoing availability of disaggregated data with the report highlighting the immediate need to strengthen data capacities, particularly through actions to develop the National Statistics System (NSS). Also included is the role of the Auditor General’s Department which has been critical to formulate a framework that would advance the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is the coordinating entity and National Focal Point for monitoring the implementation of the SDGs in Jamaica. The report will also be a document that public sector entities, private sector and development sector and charitable corporations can use in decision making and data benchmarking.

The 2022 Voluntary National Review Jamaica is available for free download as a report on the PIOJ website.

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CONTACT:
SDG Secretariat: sdgsjamaica@pioj.gov.jm