Draft National Population And Sustainable Development Policy For Public Consultation

Cabinet has approved the draft National Population and Sustainable Development Policy as a Green Paper for public consultation and for tabling in Parliament.

This was noted by Education, Youth and Information Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, during the virtual post-Cabinet press briefing, on Wednesday (October 6).

In 1983, Jamaica was among the first developing countries to formulate and adopt an explicit National Population Policy.

The Policy and National Programme of Action on Population and Development were revised and adopted in 1995.

Mrs. Williams said the Policy has been further revised in 2021 and maintains consistency with the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, Vision 2030 Jamaica, Agenda 2030 and other relevant platforms of action.

She noted the revised Policy has been developed to advance the achievements and remedy the unmet targets in the implementation of the 1995 Policy.

Cabinet has also approved the National Policy for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes as a White Paper for tabling in the Houses of Parliament.

The Policy promotes the management of wastes that are deemed to be hazardous in character and advocates for the promulgation of several legal instruments in an effort to remedy some of the issues hindering the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in Jamaica.