PIOJ to establish poverty unit
Published:Sunday | March 4, 2012 | 12:00 AM
The government has accepted a proposal submitted by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) to try a new way of tackling destitution in rural and urban communities through centralised planning.
The proposal creates a Poverty Reduction Co-ordinating Unit to be spearheaded by the PIOJ and housed in its Oxford Road, New Kingston, offices.
The unit is not yet functional, nor is there any indication of its budget.
social protection
PIOJ Director General Dr Gladstone Hutchinson, as he reported on the latest economic numbers, said the unit "will afford the country a mechanism to ensure that social protection of our vulnerable citizens are centre stage in the reform and modernisation efforts of the economy under way."
"The establishment of such a coordinating hub to streamline poverty programmes and initiatives going forward is imperative if ad hoc interventions are to be avoided," he said.
The poverty-reduction unit is expected to align its goals with the national poverty strategies outlined in Vision 2030, Jamaica's road map to developed status for which oversight also falls under the PIOJ.
It is also expected to reduce ad hoc and fragmented approaches to addressing poverty nationwide in favour of a menu of targeted interventions and issues.