PIOJ’S LNOB Toolkit Endorsed by Stakeholders

Stakeholders have endorsed the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) National Poverty Reduction Leaving No One Behind (LNOB) Toolkit, which was launched on March 21.

The toolkit is intended to build the capacity of poverty reduction stakeholders, strengthen service delivery to the poor and vulnerable, and increase partnership, collaboration and information sharing.

Director of the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Elsa Marks-Willis, underscores that the toolkit is a welcome social protection resource that documents tools for the development of comprehensive and inclusive poverty reduction policies and actions, with a commitment to reaching the most vulnerable.

“The toolkit will specially assist the Ministry, firstly, to identify those who are left or at risk of being left behind, owing to policies and programme designs that govern access, reach and or delivery. Secondly, the toolkit will help to strengthen service delivery to the poor and vulnerable, as programme gaps can be readily identified and strategies posited to close those gaps – improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our programmes,” Mrs. Marks-Willis explains to JIS News.

She further shares that the Ministry can be guided in the development of strategies to strengthen partnership as well as the development of effective and inclusive communication to reach the most vulnerable.

Mrs. Marks-Willis encourages national poverty reduction programme implementing partners and other stakeholders to explore and utilise the toolkit in their policy, planning and implementation.

Director of Projects and Social Intervention, Food For the Poor, Susan Moore, says the toolkit is a necessary framework for identifying the vulnerable population, developing and adjusting targeted interventions that will benefit the less fortunate.

“Our programmes have evolved to include not just the relief that we are known for but stronger emphasis on income generation and sustainability. In this regard, Food For the Poor embraces this initiative of the LNOB Toolkit, because it is in alignment with our strategic direction and Vision 2030,” she says.

She notes that Food For the Poor participated in the pretesting of the toolkit and the charity organisation looks forward to the many lives that will be uplifted, “as we join hands and hearts to achieve measurable and impactful results that will benefit those in need”.

The toolkit can be accessed at https://www.pioj.gov.jm/product/national-poverty-reduction-lnob-toolkit/.