Jamaica committed to SDG targets

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) despite the impact of Hurricane Melissa.

She was delivering Jamaica’s third Voluntary National Review (VNR) report to the seventh meeting of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on July 10 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The report was presented jointly with Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wayne Henry.

In her presentation, Senator Johnson Smith highlighted Jamaica’s progress towards achieving the SDGs and the importance of multilateralism, while Dr. Henry addressed the country’s structural vulnerabilities.

Minister Johnson Smith acknowledged that although Hurricane Melissa has caused unprecedented devastation, Jamaica remains dedicated to the targets.

“We’ve worked hard at making progress but are today confronted with the reality that one half of the country has been destroyed by the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in Jamaica,” she said.

“We are, however, resilient people so that even as we work on recovery and reconstruction with our partners and stakeholders, we have evaluated progress on the SDGs and continue to embark on a transformative pathway to accelerating sustainable development,” she added.

The Minister said the challenges facing Jamaica are shared by many Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

“The commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees is faltering and small island states continue to bear the additional social and economic costs of recovering and rebuilding while striving to achieve resilient and sustainable development,” Senator Johnson Smith said.

She emphasised that Jamaica’s development will require continued international cooperation.

“Our development journey, undoubtedly, will go beyond 2030, and robust international partnerships will remain critical to its success,” she said.

“Jamaica’s commitment to achieving the SDGs, nonetheless, is reflected in our 98 per cent alignment with Vision 2030, Jamaica's National Development Plan, embedding the SDG targets and indicators in our national monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and strengthening of our results-based management and budgeting systems to support implementation,” the Minister noted.

The implementation of the SDGs in Jamaica is led by the Ministry, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

By Lisa Rowe