Keith Duncan | Project STAR – Impacting one community at a time

Project STAR (Social Transformation and Renewal) was officially launched on June 1, 2022, as a partnership between the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). It was initiated with the support of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the Opposition.

Project STAR is non-partisan with the intent of building out a public- and private-sector partnership with government ministries, departments and agencies, whose mandate include social investments.

The project is important in the context that Jamaica has achieved relative macroeconomic stability; the debt levels are on a downward trajectory, and fiscal space continues to increase in capital expenditure and human capital development.

However, when we look at the social outcomes and the stark realities that we face as a country, we need to be proactive, solution-oriented and step forward in a spirit of collaboration to solve our pressing social issues – much like we have the macroeconomic issues. It is in this context Project STAR started working in communities in 2022.

ONE YEAR UP AND RUNNING

One year in the project has achieved a lot. The first six months of Project STAR was dedicated to design and planning; building out the governance structure and a team; forming partnerships within the private and public sectors and mobilising start-up funding and entry into three communities – east downtown Kingston, which include Rose and Parade Gardens; sections of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland; and May Pen, Clarendon.

We have formed a technical working group with key GOJ agencies, including the Social Development Commission, the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the Ministry of National Security, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, HEART/ NSTA Trust, Citizen Safety and Security Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and the Citizen Security Secretariat.

In east downtown Kingston, several programmes have been rolled out, including:

• Future STARs school feeding programme in four basic schools;

• Sporting programmes, including weekly street-side football and basketball;

• Community reasoning sessions;

• Referral to social protection programmes, such as PATH and social pensions for the elderly;

• Psychosocial programmes, such as youth camps;

• Establishment of community transformation boards to provide design and oversight over the community transformation plan;

• STAR employment programme has trained over 50 persons and over 50 per cent of them are in jobs or in the job placement process.

In Savanna-la-Mar, the following have been accomplished:

• Community reasoning sessions held;

• Nearly 40 job aspirants are now completing training and will be placed in jobs;

• A community infrastructure working group is being established;

• Strategic plan been laid out with the fishing community on Cooke Street to develop and protect the beach.

Project STAR is in its early entry phase in May Pen and has mapped out the targeted neighbourhoods and has had initial meetings with community stakeholders, including the Parish Development Committee and the Clarendon Peace Coalition.

FIVE-YEAR PLAN

Project STAR’s five-year plan is to be in a minimum of 10 communities, which has a planned expenditure of $2 billion. The expected outcome is a community that is executing a transformation plan that is owned by the citizens; a plan that is holistic and impacts the entire community. The primary goal is greater social cohesion in these communities driven by increased economic activity, reduced unemployment, economically empowered families, and reduced major crimes and domestic violence. These outcomes will be underpinned by a robust community development model that can be modified for other violent and vulnerable communities, based on the circumstances, across Jamaica.

We commend corporate Jamaica for the confidence the sector has placed in us with a committed $270 million in year one funding and multi-year commitments. Other funding sources will be crowdfunding from the diaspora and multilateral funding.

Project STAR will be working in partnership with the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the Jamaica Social Stock Exchange, the Jamaica Security Dealers Association, the Jamaica Bankers Associations and the stockbrokers to do a public listing of Project STAR. Social stock will be available for purchase and we invite Jamaicans from all walks of life to invest in this game-changing and transformative project to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters in the targeted communities, while building out a sustainable model for community development.

FOCUS

Project STAR’s social and economic programmes will be implemented by social practitioners drawn from the GOJ, non-governmental organisations and the private sector. These programmes are selected and executed based on the issues the community faces and are executed in collaboration with community-based organisations, including churches, community development councils, schools, youth groups, along with staff of STAR, which includes project officers, social workers and community liaison officers.

It’s important to underscored that improving social outcomes must go hand in hand with the creation of economic opportunities. Therefore, Project STAR, through the PSOJ, will be collaborating with all business associations to access these economic opportunities. Through our STAR Employment Programme, we will create a job bank, labour pool and a skills bank. Our technical and life skills programmes will prepare participants for jobs, in collaboration with HEART/NSTA Trust. Our financial inclusion programmes, in collaboration with the bankers, credit unions and microfinance organisations,m will work to convert informal micro and small businesses into formal entities with banking relationships, to increase access to finance.

Our entrepreneurial programmes will work with financial services and developmental organisations, such as the Jamaica Business Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Jamaica, and private-sector strategic investments in communities.

As we say, ‘fahwud’ and join the movement as we take a ‘whole a wi’ approach to improving Jamaica community by community. We believe that with collective action across the society, we can realise a shared vision of Jamaica in which everyone is valued and has the opportunity to thrive.

Keith Duncan, is co-chair and project sponsor of Project STAR and immediate past president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.