National Policy on Poverty and National Poverty Reduction Programme.

The National Policy on Poverty and National Poverty Reduction Programme is a national policy with a multi-sectoral approach. The Programme is long-term, in keeping with Vision 2030 Jamaica, and will also be implemented and monitored over a 3-4 year medium-term cycle. Strategic programming priorities identified as critical for policy implementation employ preventive, promotive, mitigative, protective, and transformative interventions (SPS 2014). Within the overall framework of the Vision 2030 Jamaica, the Policy and Programme aim to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce absolute poverty at the national and sub-national levels. The intermediate outcomes of the policy are the strengthening of the institutional and legislative environment and providing a framework of cooperation among state and non-state actors for sustainability of the poverty reduction efforts. The vision of the policy is for every Jamaican to consume goods and services above the minimum acceptable national standards, and to have equal and equitable opportunities and support to achieve and maintain income security and improved quality of life.
The programme will address poverty at three levels - Household/Individual, Community and National. At the household/individual level, poverty will be addressed through a slate of interventions focused on: meeting basic needs, economic empowerment, addressing psycho-social, cultural and normative challenges, and providing opportunities for human capital development and livelihood creation. At the community level, focus will be placed on building community infrastructure (physical, social and economic) to create greater opportunities for improving standards of living and creating an enabling environment. This will also incorporate the strengthening of innate assets and community organization to embrace innovative approaches to creating value and wealth. At the national level, the provision of technical support for institutional strengthening and effective management, monitoring and evaluation of the national (and sub-national) poverty reduction programming, research, resource mobilization and allocation, are prioritized.
The activities will focus on strengthening social safety nets to address extreme poverty-induced deprivations (including hunger); promoting and expanding human capital development among the poor and vulnerable (including children and persons with disabilities) towards self-actualization; enhancing income security among the poor and vulnerable; enhancing food and nutrition security of the poor; strengthening basic social and physical infrastructure within poor rural and urban communities; addressing psychosocial, cultural and normative influences on poverty;and strengthening coordination and capacity building among key stakeholders for poverty reduction.
The National Policy and Programme will be operationalized through a series of 3-year medium- term national poverty reduction programmes. A detailed Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework to guide and monitor policy and programme implementation and track programme outcomes will be developed. The M&E Framework will include a work plan for the medium term programme supported by a results-based monitoring and evaluation Logical Framework. The M&E framework will identify key indicators, targets, deliverables, responsible partners/actors, and timelines. It will also detail the institutional arrangement for implementation and monitoring, as well as the reporting and communication formats and frequency, inter alia. The Poverty Reduction Coordinating Unit (PRCU) in the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) will coordinate, monitor and evaluate, and report on the implementation of this national policy and programme.