According to UN Women, 28% of women in Jamaica have suffered intimate partner violence during their lifetime, and 23% have suffered sexual violence from a non-partner. These levels of violence, especially intra-household violence, have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the increased levels of stress experienced by many people. On 25 November, the United Nations started its 16 Days of Action against Gender-Based Violence with a range of worldwide activities, including lighting many buildings and monuments orange, the colour of action. This initiative follows this year's theme: "Paint the World Orange: Finance, Respond, Prevent, Collect Data!" urging governments to take concrete action to prevent violence against women and children, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jamaican Economy Panel (JEP) answered various questions on violence against women and children and what policies the society can pursue to reduce such violence. Previous research has shown that, in Jamaica, violent discipline has a substantial presence in Jamaican society, with UNICEF reporting that up to 85% of children encounter such violence. At the same time, international research has shown that exposure to violent discipline and violent discipline help to promote a culture of violence. The overwhelming majority of JEP panellists concurred that domestic violence and violent discipline were associated with the increased presence of gender-based and other types of violence. The panellists supported several courses of action to reduce the violence children encounter, including harsher punishment for perpetrators of violence and stronger laws. However, there was also strong support for the pursuit of better ways for children and teenagers to report violence and for counselling and support to parents to avoid violence altogether. Dr. Nadine McCloud, Head of the Economics Department at UWI Mona and co-founder of the JEP, explains that " to increase the peacefulness of Jamaican society, it is important to pursue community-based initiatives focused on avoiding violence. This proposition does not imply that perpetrators should enjoy impunity, but the elimination of violence through preemptive action will lead to a faster reduction of the negative consequences thereof". The JEP panellists answered questions about violence against women specifically. There is some evidence that unequal income and labour distributions can exacerbate intra-household violence. In Jamaica, for example, there is a 14 percentage point gap between female and male labour participation rates and a substantial gap in unemployment rates exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The panellists achieved an almost even split on whether this economic inequality was a driver behind the trends seen in gender-based violence. Tonni-Ann Brodber, Representative of the UN Women Multi-Country Office, comments that “the research shows that intimate partner violence risks in Jamaica include increased quarreling between couples. The large and increasing inequality in labour participation could lead to increased stress and quarrels among couples in the home. In some cases these arguments provide a gateway to IPV for men who are inclined to resolve conflict with violence.”. When asked about solutions to the challenge of violence against women, several approaches received majority support from the panellists—the two proposals with the most outstanding support focus on addressing violence through community-based and positive interventions. In particular, the respondents focused on the importance of education as a structural way to address violence in the long run. Responding to the survey results, Dr. Garry Conille, United Nations Resident Coordinator, shared that he "could not agree more about the importance of community-based solutions. As a society, I believe we are overly focused on correcting behaviour after the fact when it can be much more effective to pursue mechanisms that reduce the occurrence of a behaviour. In Jamaica, which suffers a culture-of-violence problem, education is a key driver in reducing such unwanted behaviours". The Jamaican Economy Panel is part of a partnership between the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office (UNRCO) and the Department of Economics at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona. The JEP brings together a select group of economic and public sector experts to address monthly socio-economic questions. These questions help to highlight relevant economic issues and the collective expertise of the panellists. The full results of this month's discussion are available HERE                                                                                                                             ### For further information, please contact: United Nations: Dr. Olaf J. de Groot, Economist. Email: olaf.degroot@un.org. Department of Economics, The University of the West Indies at Mona: Dr. Nadine McCloud, Head, Email: nadine.mccloud02@uwimona.edu.jm      

Professor Rosalea Hamilton, Chair, Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance, guided the dialogue through topics including addressing barriers to greater civil society partnerships and collaboration with governments and IDPs. Government and development organizations were also able to provide guidance on capacity strengthening priorities for civil society. In her presentation, Kimberley Marriot-Blake, Executive Director of Jamaica Association for Deaf, encouraged a need for greater understanding – at all levels – of the nuanced needs of the communities serviced in developmental programming especially people living with disabilities. “We see and hear stories of women and girls, who are deaf, filing reports with the Police and some Stations do not have the capacity to even receive these reports. And too often there’s lack of empathy. There has to be a greater review of the bottlenecks that impact the greater engagement, provision and access to services for people who are deaf,” Marriot-Blake said. Professor Hamilton highlighted the need for increased collaboration among CSOs themselves. “When CSOs partner among themselves they have improved capacity and sustain wider reach,” she said, “collaboration with the government should support institutional development of CSOs to better support the national gaps in service provision.” Vanna Laurence, Programme Manager with the Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, stressed the importance of civil society partners in meeting developmental goals. “There will always be a need for civil society actors and the European Union is committed to supporting civil society in reaching people,” she said.

The Forum provided a platform for critical engagement and for identifying how businesses, foundations and third sector entities can support the build-forward-better pandemic recovery agenda and help advance the SDGs through inclusive, equitable and sustainable approaches that leave no one. "Sustainable development is the foundation for ensuring business continuity, market security and supply chain stability as we move forward. It is important that [moving forward] Jamaica, and the wider Caribbean region, adopts a comprehensive, collaborative and far-reaching human-centred agenda.” Dr. Garry Conille said. In motivating the private sector, the Resident Coordinator added, “These measures must go hand in hand with strategies to rebuild industries, create new companies and increase the productivity of those companies that survive the crisis.” Attendees were also introduced and encouraged to engage in the work of the UN Global Compact – the non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms to adopt and report on sustainable and socially responsible policies. In incorporating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into business strategies, policies and procedures, companies are strategically upholding their responsibilities to people and planet and set a firmer stage for long-term success. Dr. Dana Morris-Dixon highlighted during her keynote address, that the private and third sector’s roles are far more than dollars and cents. “Jamaica National has proudly worked with our competitors to respond to a number of challenges during COVID and this approach will have continued relevance in addressing developmental issues – beyond the pandemic as well,” Dr. Morris-Dixon said. The Forum also spotlighted the work being done by Kingston Creatives, Sandals Foundation and the GK Foundation towards community development, education, poverty alleviation and environmental protection as they too advance national development using the SDG roadmap. Panel discussions, which included representatives from the private sector, government, UN and academia, zoned in on why human rights and gender equality is good for business and how to integrate the principles of environmental sustainability to support the transition to a healthier, more resource-efficient, green and circular economy.

The workshop, supported and facilitated by the 2030 Agenda Partnership Accelerator, allowed attendees to share and learn strategies for scaling up the use of partnerships for the SDGs in Jamaica. The workshop also provided participants with some practical tools and building blocks to promote effective partnerships. Workshop trainer, Mr. Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, The Partnering Initiative, highlighted that multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives are well poised to bring to bear a range of levers towards societal transformation and the achievement of the SDG. Workshop outcomes indicated that current hotspots for multi-actor collaboration include policy development, health, education, risk management, resilience building, violence prevention, digital transformation, disaster response, development of the creative sector and support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The week’s activities, including the training workshop, served as part of a longer-term strategy, and a number of partnerships initiatives which the UN intends to explore following the completion of a partnership landscape assessment aligned with national priorities and the new Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (MSDCF) 2022- 2026.  “This assessment, which will be launched in less than a month, will seek to identify existing mechanisms for engaging stakeholders and sectors towards the SDGs. It will also identify thematic areas and issues where there is strong potential for new partnerships across sectors in Jamaica, as well as with regional and global institutions and donors,” Maxsalia Salmon, Partnerships and Development Finance Officer, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office said. October 24, UN Day in Jamaica culminated with the publishing of a special 76th-anniversary magazine in a Jamaican newspaper with over 500,000 local viewership and more online. The magazine featured 15 Agencies and Programmes and communicated areas in which the UN and its partners have impacted the lives of Jamaicans. It included human interest stories from beneficiaries and implementing partners, as well as official messages from leaders of the State. The UN Day virtual events were streamed live via Zoom, the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) as well as on social media platforms with over 3000 online viewers. Approximately 50 national and global speakers and panellists participated from over 20 organizations. The Forum also featured an innovative virtual exhibit experience where over 15 UN Agencies, Joint Programmes and Partners showcased over 25 virtual booths. Event recordings/ highlights remain available online. Additionally, approximately 2 dozen partners, including government and the Governor General, lit their buildings in blue light in support of the UN’s ‘Light Jamaica Blue’ initiative recognizing frontline workers. A UN commissioned tribute video for frontline workers, featuring Jamaicans, has already been viewed over 100,000 times on different online platforms. The week’s activity was the 11th trending topic on Twitter Jamaica. The UN in Jamaica looks forward to continuing to build a strong presence and partnerships, built upon shared goals and shared vision placing the people at the centre of sustainable development. -End- (Accompanying Media)