A RENEWED emphasis is being placed on community development and empowerment, according to Robert Bryan, executive director of the Social Development Commission (SDC).
The mission of the SDC under the umbrella of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, is to facilitate the empowerment of citizens at the community level, and enable them to participate in an integrated, equitable, and sustainable national development process.
To this end, the SDC plans and executes projects across the 745 communities it services, assisted by other local and international organisations. The SDC has 105 Community Development Officers (CDOs), each of whom are responsible for up to ten communities, with total populations of over 15,000 persons.
According to Mr. Bryan, the CDOs are required to "facilitate organisational development within the communities, assist individuals to unite, plan, act, and articulate their collective interests, and to function as a whole community".
CDOs also contribute to the planning process of projects and assist communities in gathering data and prioritising programmes based on citizens' needs.
Following this pooling of information, the community is linked with other agencies in the system, such as the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), which is one of the SDC's major partners.
One such partnership came through the National Poverty Alleviation Programme launched in 1995, and the subsequent Inner-City Renewal Programme (ICRP), which was implemented in October 2001.
Government launched the ICRP to promote sustainable development in the inner cities and other communities of the Kingston Metropolitan area, through the improvement of physical and social infrastructure, the creation of economic and employment opportunities, and the general improvement in the quality of life in these communities.
In an interview with the JIS, the government's news agency, Mr. Bryan noted that the programme was "designed to rebuild and reconstruct our urban communities that are in significant disrepair and address the dysfunction of these communities".
He said that while the programme comprehensively tackled the areas of policing and security, it also recognised the importance of the social issues.
"We have to get in there and look at facilities that will allow the community to function in a far more systematic and acceptable way, socially. We have to pay attention to creating a proper environment for growth in the economy and the provision of jobs, which is at the root of the problem, and to reconstruct the infrastructure," he told JIS.
Mr. Bryan admitted that the issue of unemployment was "a tough one", which the SDC had tried to address as best as possible by pointing persons to activities that facilitate the development of "job-creating opportunities".
"That's where it is; this is how we have been able to get young people to begin to adjust their minds, not just in seeking a job, but thinking of how they can create these opportunities," he added.
STRUCTURED OUTLET
The Texaco Community Basketball Competition was one such venture, out of which 48 persons have found full-time employment. The competition provided a structured outlet for basketball players at the community level, fostered social interaction between communities across Greater Kingston, St. Catherine, Clarendon, St. Thomas, Manchester, and St. Elizabeth.
Persons were able to develop employable skills in the areas of coaching, table officiating and refereeing, leading to certification by the Jamaica Basketball Association.
Mr. Bryan identified some of the difficulties the SDC encountered in interfacing with communities and development projects.
He said it was often difficult to gain the trust of the community and convincing individuals of the benefits that could be derived from these projects. "The system extracts different standards and there are a lot of people who feel that the responsibility of agents of government is to come in and hand out something. It's a real difficulty," he told JIS.
The Executive Director said over the years, the organisation, through its work amongst the youth and the community, has "prevented a larger amount of young people from getting into socially unacceptable behaviour". He made note of the SDC's collaboration with the HEART Trust/NTA, which has seen 90 per cent of the its students being placed in the tourism and information technology industries.
Recently, 58 community leaders earned Management Institute for National Development (MIND) accredited certificates from the SDC's Community Leaders Training Programme, which saw participation from over 600 persons ranging from ages 19 to 75, across the island. The project cost was over $200,000.
The SDC is in the process of working with all communities in the island to help collect and present information needed to support community development. As such, a database has been created to provide background information on all communities in Jamaica. The first stage of this database is now available on the Internet to allow access to community groups, government agencies, service providers, private companies, universities and donors.
The agency's other partners include, the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology, Jamaica Sustainable Development Networking Programme, the Jamaica Computer Society Education Foundation and the Jamaica Library Service.
One other organisation that has been making significant contributions to community development is the JSIF, a major plank of the ICRP.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Established by government in 1996 as part of the National Poverty Alleviation Programme, the Fund promotes, appraises, finances and supervises community projects in partnership with central and local government agencies, public and private organisations, and Community Based Organisations (CBOs).
JSIF is financed by grants from the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), the Governments of Jamaica and the Netherlands, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Caribbean Development Bank, the European Union (EU) and the Department For International Development (DFID).
As at October of 2002, the agency received over 2,000 requests for projects from communities across the island. Of the total, 449 have been approved at a cost of $2.1 billion, with 357 completed.
The approved amount comprise $592.8 million for schools; $696.5 million for roads, $84 million to construct health centres: $206.65 million for water supply and $153.7 million for projects aimed at community organisation and social services, including organisational strengthening, conflict resolution, skills training and career guidance. Another $414.5 million was invested in inner-city programmes, while $942.4 million was allocated to projects geared towards youth development, education and training.
NEW PROJECTS
During the 2001/02 financial period, the agency committed $433.8 million for the execution of 92 new projects to benefit more than 89,000 residents from 68 underserved communities across the island. The agency also completed 87 projects with a combined cost of $258.6 million to benefit more than 600,000 residents in 46 communities islandwide.
Kingston and St. Andrew received 28 per cent of the 92 projects approved during 2001/02; St. Mary received 8 per cent; Trelawny 8.7 per cent; St. Elizabeth, 6.5 per cent; St. Thomas, 8 per cent,; Clarendon, 3.3 per cent; St. James, 3 per cent; Westmoreland, 3 per cent; Portland, 5.4 per cent, Manchester, 7 per cent, St. Ann 3 per cent, and St. Catherine 10 per cent.
Through these interventions, JSIF has responded to the pressing needs in education, access to critical social and economic services, development of the farming sector through the provision of better roads, enhancing the living conditions of the most vulnerable in the society and improving life coping skills especially among the youth.
The agency has also undertaken a $12 million project to build the capacity of existing CBOs to better identify, assess, plan and maintain projects under the ICRP. The programme encompass the communities of Rae Town, Swallowfield, Allman Town, Trench Town, Fletchers Land and the environs of the Kingston Public Hospital.
The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has also played a key role in the infrastructure development of urban and rural areas. One of its projects, the Lift Up Jamaica Programme, which was instituted in 1999, has been making significant strides in the development and upgrading of community infrastructure.
Under the programme, over 600 projects involving 19 major towns have been selected for implementation. One significant segment of the programme is the Basic Schools Rehabilitation Project, which has seen the refurbishing of over 100 schools, serving some 8,040 students.
The project has provided employment for approximately 2,680 persons, while work on another 20 schools, is in progress. A total of 134 schools have been earmarked for development.
Under the ICRP, the UDC renovated cottages at the Jamaica Defence Force's (JDF) New Castle camp to provide residential facilities for inner city youth, who received training under the Necessary Education Training (NET) programme.
The Ministry of National Security is also involved in the Government's overall effort to deal with the challenges facing the country's youth. In the effort, a series of youth conferences have been held islandwide to "mobilise young people and raise their consciousness as potential victims and offenders."
The Ministry said that since the initial conference in August, there have been meetings with the National Youth Service (NYS) and the SDC, as well as non-governmental organisations, and recommendations made through feedback from the various young persons involved.
