National Partnership Council Strengthens Structure

The National Partnership Council (NPC) is deepening its structure to support the new 2022-2026 Social Partnership Agreement.

Minister Without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, provided details during a post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House on Wednesday (October 12).

“One of the things we’ve done is we’ve expanded the coordinated committee to incorporate more of the partners. That committee meets in-between the NPC meetings, which will continue to be chaired by the Prime Minister,” he said.

The coordinated committee meetings are expected to be held quarterly.

“So, we already have a crime-monitoring and oversight committee and what we want is to ensure that the committee works in tandem with the Partnership,” Minister Green pointed out.

The National Partnership Council, first launched in 2011, is a social dialogue collaboration among the Government of Jamaica and the trade union movement, the Opposition, private sector, and representatives from women, youth and academic groups, to address national economic and social issues.

Minister Green said that reports will be shared under the Social Partnership Agreement on issues relating to justice, safety, security, public order, anti-corruption, adherence to environmental and planning laws and other things.

Focus will also be placed on the education sector and the recommendations set out in the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC) report.

“We will support the recommendations and act as that advocate for change. We will work with the transformation taskforce (Education Transformation Oversight Committee) that has been established to address the deficiencies in education and vocational training systems [with the aim] of improving quality and outcomes,” he noted further.

Support will be given to improve the environmental laws with an emphasis on monitoring and enforcement, as well as adaptation and resilience strategies to protect the island against the threat of climate emergencies.

The Social Partnership Agreement 2022-2026, ‘Partnership for Jamaica’s Strong and Sustainable Recovery’, was signed on September 28, and will facilitate the engagement of respectful, constructive and sustained dialogue on issues of national importance.

The Agreement is guided by several underlying principles – adherence to the rule of law; respect for human rights and civil liberties; accountability; informed leadership and integrity; protection of the natural environment; improvement of public health; economic growth on the foundations of inclusiveness, equity and sustainability; quality education as a foundation for nation-building; and individual and collective commitment to tolerance and maturity in conflict resolution.

The Agreement was signed by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness; Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding; President of the Jamaica Council of Churches, Most Reverend Kenneth Richards; President, Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions, Helene Davis-Whyte; and President, Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Keith Duncan.