Jamaica Action Plan Review 2021-2023

This product consists of an IRM review of Jamaica’s 2021–2023 action plan. The action plan is made up of 7 of commitments, 4 of which the IRM has filtered and clustered into 2. This review emphasizes its analysis on the strength of the action plan to contribute to implementation and results. For the commitment-by-commitment data see Annex 1. For details regarding the methodology and indicators used by the IRM for this Action Plan Review, see section III. Methodology and IRM Indicators.

Overview of the 2021–2023 Action Plan

Jamaica’s first action plan includes promising commitments to modernize the existing access-to-information legal framework, strengthen civic participation in environmental matters, and enhance the implementation of polices specific to Jamaica’s youth. Among other things, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... recommends expanding use of public consultations and fostering ratification of the Escazu agreement.

Jamaica’s 2021–2023 Action Plan is its first within the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP). It consists of 7 commitments that have the potential to modernize the existing legal framework and mechanisms for access to information (Commitments 2 and 3), strengthen civic participation and access to information concerning environmental matters (Commitment 5), and enhance the implementation of policies aimed at the youth (Commitment 7). The action plan is aligned with Jamaica’s 2030 strategic development plan and the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. It addresses several strategic areas that the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the country’s civil society organizations (CSOs) and stakeholders have jointly identified as priorities. Citizens’ input was also considered, with nearly 700 participants voting online.

The IRM considers most commitments in this action plan promising as they demonstrate robust designs to tackle key areas for the country, such as access to information, the environment, and the country’s youth. Three of them fall short, however, in describing clearly and in detail how they could make the government more open. CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 1, for example, proposes including stakeholders in future implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NAS). However, the nature of this stakeholder involvement is neither clear nor predefined as being binding or relevant. Meanwhile, Commitment 4 proposes delivering a judicial information portal and a human rights educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... program, 2 products that share the same overall goals but are aimed at different audiences and delivered through different means. Moreover, given that the information portal will replicate information already published through other platforms and that the education program’s sole open government mechanism is the inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More of stakeholder consultations during its preparatory phase, this commitment is likely to have only a modest impact on opening the government. Commitment 6 foresees updating the Climate Change Policy Framework by adding a public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... element to certain milestones of the drafting process. As with Commitment 1, however, Commitment 6 mentions stakeholder and public consultations but does not provide specifics about how these consultations will be implemented or how their input will add value to the final draft.

Finally, on 10 January 2022 there was a cabinet reshuffle that affected the assignment of implementing agencies for some OGP commitments. Moreover, according to the Director of the Economic Reform Monitoring Unit, one of the challenges for the implementation of the Action Plan will relate to funding and staffing constraints from the implementing agencies, which may impact the timely execution of some milestone activities.[1]

Promising Commitments in Jamaica’s 2021–2023 Action Plan

The following review looks at the four commitments that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Four of these have been organized into two clusters. This review will inform the IRM’s research approach to assess implementation in the Results Report. The IRM Results Report will build on the early identification of potential results from this review to contrast with the outcomes at the end of the implementation period of the action plan. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

The result of online voting that took place between June and July 2021, the Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) agreed on the development of commitments in four thematic areas: (1) justice and human rights; (2) natural resources, the environment, and climate; (3) access to information; and (4) youth. The point of contact (POC) explained in an interview with the IRM researcher that the action plan focuses on themes and commitments that can deliver realistic and tangible results rather than pursuing overambitious goals.[2] In fact, most commitments in this action plan build on existing policies and regulations that would benefit from being updated and revamped through the inclusion of an open government perspective.

The IRM considers Commitments 2, 3, 5, and 7 promising (see table 1) because of their potential to renew and bolster existing policies through the addition of new elements and milestones that reflect open government values (notably, civic participation and access to information). Commitments 2 and 3 seek to reinvigorate Jamaicans’ access to public information by aligning access with the recently enacted national Open DataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... Policy. Although Commitment 2 focuses on the development of the required data systems and infrastructure to implement this policy, Commitment 3 seeks to renew the institutional and normative layout to guarantee citizens’ right to access to information. In the same line, Commitment 5 aims to develop environmental regulations governing impact assessments to make them more participatory and transparent. Commitment 7 would increase the impact of the revised National Youth Policy (2017–2030) by fostering participation and access to relevant information among youth. The IRM considers this commitment to be modest in terms of its potential for results, but it is also promising because the policy it would amend was the result of a collaborative process involving multiple stakeholders, including nongovernmental, community, and faith-based organizations; academia; youth clubs; and other civil society groups.

Three commitments could potentially affect key aspects of government, but their design as written is insufficient to signal significant change in those important policy areas. Commitment 1 proposes embedding a two-step stakeholder consultation session into the process for developing the NAS. This consultation could provide the GOJ with a structured framework for agencies and relevant stakeholders to take part in completing and implementing the NAS. Although the Terms of Reference of the consultancy that will deliver the new draft of the NAS foresee the adoption of consultations and other participatory methodologies as well as a Responsibility Matrix,[3] the commitment lacks an assurance that civil society will have a binding role in the elaboration, execution, and evaluation of the strategy, which could undermine the quality of participation in the process.

Commitment 4 foresees the delivery of two products: the Jamaica Legal Information Portal (JLIP) and a Human Rights Education Programme (HREDP). According to the POC and a civil society member of the Jamaica’s OGP Civil Society Working Group, this commitment generated the most interest among stakeholders.[4]

The JLIP intends to offer a consolidated space that serves as a repository for all sources of law. Existing access to legislation is fragmented, and current repositories are not user friendly, only support narrow search terms, do not include old legislation and do not include applicable common law. Regarding the HREDP, the Ministry of Justice has, since 2007, championed a progressive program of justice sector reform which has included the introduction of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) justice services, which continues to be stymied by poor information flow and inadequate understanding of ADR processes. The HREDP would serve to accelerate the uptake of and improve awareness of existing programs and services which offer viable alternatives to the Courts and which in most instances are free to the public. However, per the written text and design of the commitment, it is still unclear how the JLIP and HREDP will complement each other, and the value they set out to add to open the GOJ appears modest. Regarding the creation of the JLIP, although it aims to simplify access to judicial information and provide an opportunity to flag information gaps, it does not aim to open any new data sources.[5] Meanwhile, although the development of the JLIP will require several internal administrative and resource allocation changes,[6] the commitment’s design includes no details on these actions. For example, although the HREDP provides more details about multi-stakeholder consultations,[7] it does not mention the inclusion of any further civic collaboration, transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, or public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More mechanisms throughout its implementation and evaluation processes.

Commitment 6 proposes delivering on key aspects of a renewed version of the Climate Change Policy Framework[8] as the result of stakeholder and public consultations. This Policy Framework was first adopted in 2015 to outline the objectives, principles, and strategies by which the country would respond to the impacts and challenges of climate change. This commitment aims to align the Framework with what the GOJ calls “new realities”[9]—most notably, the Paris Agreement.[10] The preliminary green paper[11] mentions the adoption of a consultative and collaborative approach as well as the need to support the participation and engagement of youth in relation to climate action. Yet, it establishes no specific mechanisms for how these ideas will materialize. Similarly, it does not explain how to make sure that the interests and needs of those potentially more strongly affected by climate change’s effects are not overlooked.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] Richard Lumsden (director of the Economic Reform Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Finance), correspondence with the IRM, 28 April 2022.

[2] Lorris Jarrett (government POC, Ministry of Finance, and Public Service deputy financial secretary) and Richard Lumsden (director of the Economic Reform Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Finance), interview by the IRM, 28 February 2022.

[3] Maurice Barrett (manager of Anti-Corruption Policy & Strategic Engagement, Integrity Commission), correspondence with the IRM, 21 April 2022.

[4] Jarrett and Lumsden, correspondence; and Danielle Andrade (Member of Jamaica’s OGP Civil Society Working Group) interview by the IRM, 28 March 2022.

[5] The Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs (MLCA) was created in January 2022 by the GOJ, with direct oversight of legislative and constitutional reform. The MLCA is responsible for advancing the creation of the JLIP.

[6] Sherricca Brandford (coordinator of Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice), correspondence with the IRM, 4 March 2022.

[7] Brandford, correspondence.

[8] Government of Jamaica, Climate Change Policy Framework for Jamaica (July 2021), https://forestry.gov.jm/resourcedocs/FINAL_15_07_21_Updated_Climate_Change_Policy_Framework___002_.pdf.

[9] Charnele Henry, “Updated Climate Change Policy to Be Aligned with New Realities,” Jamaica Information Service, posted 25 February 2022, https://jis.gov.jm/updated-climate-change-policy-to-be-aligned-with-new-realities/.

[10] “The Paris Agreement,” United Nations Climate Change, accessed 9 June 2022, https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement.

[11] Sherika Hall, “Positive Feedback from Emissions and Updated Climate Change Policy Frameworks,” Jamaica Information Service, posted 28 February 2022, https://jis.gov.jm/positive-feedback-from-emissions-and-updated-climate-change-policy-frameworks/.