Development partners from various sectors engaged in a workshop on effective partnering and scaling up the use of partnerships for the achievement of the SDGs

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.

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(Accompanying Media)