Remarks by UNDP Resident Representative Denise E Antonio

Virtual Dissemination Workshop and Closing Forum - Strengthening Human Resilience in Northern Clarendon and West Kingston (Human Security Programme)

Wednesday 22 December 2021

• Mr.  Chairman – Christopher Corbin- Focal point for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Honourable Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change
• Dr Garry Conille - Resident Coordinator, United Nations Jamaica
• Heads of Agencies of the United Nations
• Representatives of Government
• Distinguished participants
• Programme beneficiaries
•  Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning and a warm welcome to everyone gathered for this milestone moment in the ‘Strengthening Human Resilience in Northern Clarendon and West Kingston” programme which has been implemented using the Human Security approach.

I am pleased to bring these remarks on behalf of the Joint Implementation Team of the United Nations (UN) Agencies,  Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Pan American Health Organisation, UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme which acted as the lead agency for Programme implementation, who have together worked with Government and community stakeholders on this exceptional Programme to “deliver as one”, to provide underserved and vulnerable communities with a host of resilience-boosting services, and infrastructure to bolster food, water, income, health and climate security.

In partnering with Government stakeholders, primarily the Ministry of Housing Urban Renewal, Environment Climate Change (MHURECC),   our joint UN team sought to demonstrate that the human security approach is a viable and powerful method to boost resilience to shocks and crises.

This programme had its fair share of obstacles and after overcoming those major implementation hurdles, came the global pandemic and its associated social, economic fall outs and safety restrictions.

Notwithstanding, the positive outputs you will hear about today, that are available on the repository site, stand as a testament to the strength of the team and the commitment of you, our programme partners.

Together, we set out to demonstrate and deliver benefits under four overarching objectives:

•  strengthening community organizational capacity and cohesion.
•  enhancing economic, food and nutrition security.
• improved environmental health and water security.
• and strengthening institutional capacity to mainstream the Human Security Approach to development.

At the policy level, we realized major results through:

• The development of a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the National Water Sector Policy.
• An assessment of gender implications for access to water and sanitation.
• Support to the revision of Water Sector policy and legislation.
• And in response to the pandemic, a Socioeconomic Assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable groups.

And while strides have been made at policy level, we are pleased that great successes are evident through our community-based interventions. Some include:

• provision of water harvesting and irrigation systems to farmers coupled with training and maintenance of the systems and best practices in agriculture.
• rehabilitation of rainwater harvesting systems for potable water.
• rehabilitation of selected health centres.
• strengthening the knowledge base and mitigation actions to natural and manmade disasters including climate change and
• assistance in the establishment of social enterprises to boost commodity incomes and livelihoods.
• strengthening community capacity through formal and informal training sessions, including support to online learning during the pandemic.

These diverse set of interventions and benefits delivered by the programme supports the underlying principles of the Human Security Approach which advances, “a people-centered, comprehensive, context-specific and prevention-oriented framework that considers the broad range of conditions that threaten the survival, livelihood and dignity of people, particularly those who are most vulnerable”.

It is also important to highlight two key lessons from the implementation process.  

• One is the importance of partnership. The Human Security Programme has been a model for collaborative partnerships between the UN, Donors, Government, and Civil Society including individual community members, and the private sector working towards a common objective of enhancing the wellbeing and livelihood of vulnerable groups within the society. The level of collaboration experienced over the four years of implementation, has been exemplary and worth harnessing for future initiatives.

• The 2^nd lesson is the importance of consultations with stakeholders. Consultations have been critical to articulating and advancing programme interventions aligned to the priorities of the Government and needs of beneficiaries.

Because of the engagement and interaction with stakeholders at every stage of the implementation process, the Human Security Programme has become a household brand.  We are therefore confident that as we hand over the outputs of the Programme to our stakeholders, the results and efforts made will be sustained.

In closing, let me express my sincere gratitude to the many stakeholders who have contributed to the success of this Programme and special thanks to the Human Security Trust Fund for this timely investment.

We as the UN agencies stand ready to partner for future programmes using the Human Security Approach that will benefit Jamaica.

Thank you for your attention.