Who We Are

National Poverty Reduction Programme Launch, March 21, 2018, Spanish Court Hotel, Kingston
L-R: The Honourable Dr. Horace Chang, MP, former Minister without Portfolio (Water, Works and Housing), Ms Claire Bernard, Deputy Director General Sustainable Development and Social Planning, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ); Mrs. Shelly Ann Edwards, Programme Manager, Poverty Reduction Coordinating Unit, PIOJ; Dr. Wayne Henry, JP, Director General, PIOJ; Hon. Noel Arscott, former Minister of Local Government and Community Development

 

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has been mandated to lead the process of coordinating the Government’s poverty reduction efforts. This is in response to the need for an institutional focal point of responsibility. Formally established December 2013 by Cabinet Decision, the Poverty Reduction Coordinating Unit (PRCU) within the PIOJ provides technical and secretariat support to the National Poverty Reduction Programme Committee (NPRPC). The NPRPC, which is comprised of key implementing partners and technical experts, monitors the implementation of the NPRP. Recognizing that poverty is a multidimensional and cross-cutting development issue, the PRCU also liaises with and provides technical input to the work of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the private sector, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Development Partners (IDPs) involved in poverty reduction and national development.

The revamping of the policy and programmatic frameworks for poverty initiatives, in keeping with Vision 2030 Jamaica – National Development Plan and the Jamaica Social Protection Strategy (2014), was one of the first priorities of the Poverty Reduction Coordinating Unit, PIOJ, resulting in the development of a new National Policy on Poverty and National Poverty Reduction Programme, approved in September 2017. The Unit coordinates, monitors, evaluates, and reports on the implementation of this national policy and programme.  The NPRP was launched on March 21, 2018, and the first Medium-term programme cycle of the NPRP (2018-2021) commenced implementation on April 1, 2018.