Community Members in St. Catherine Benefit from Interventions by SDC

Several community members across St. Catherine are benefitting from social interventions by the parish’s Social Development Commission (SDC).

Through the agency’s social service fairs, persons are receiving their Tax Registration Number (TRN), birth certificates, National Insurance Scheme (NIS), grants through the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), according to Acting Parish Manager of the SDC, Shana-Lee Archibald.

She said that through an ongoing partnership with several Ministries and agencies, the SDC is ensuring that the communities access the services, and that over 200 persons have been assisted, recently.

“Taking services to the most vulnerable in communities, or to persons who are not able to access services, that is something that we take pride in doing, and that is only achieved through inter-agency collaboration. There are few more to come…and we have recently forged a new partnership with the National Council on Drug Abuse, as well as the Bureau of Gender Affairs,” she said, in an interview with JIS News.

Ms. Archibald said that the partnership with the Bureau of Gender Affairs (BGA) will assist in reaching males in conversation regarding abuse, as there is a stigma attached to men not speaking out or speaking up, and “the reality is, men also are abused.”

So, the conversation will be around engaging men, because we are talking about gender equality, in terms of providing resources to both males and females who have experienced abuse,” she said, noting that BGA officers will be attending the social service fairs, and if they “identify issues, then they will have their private engagements with the individuals affected.”

“Because we are on the ground, being the primary community agency working across 775 communities, the very engagements that we have that can reach people, they want to be a part of it, because these communities are affected by a number of issues, to include domestic violence,” the Acting Manager said.

The SDC, which is an agency of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, has a mission to empower citizens and facilitate their participation in an integrated, equitable, and sustainable national development process, and envisions a Jamaican society where all citizens actively participate in development and benefit from good governance, economic prosperity, a sustainable environment, and social well-being.