Public Sector Representatives from the Commonwealth Participate in Points of Contact Meeting

Senior public sector representatives from Jamaica, and other Caribbean and Mediterranean countries, which are beneficiaries under the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC), are currently participating in a three-day Points of Contact (POC) meeting at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spain Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
The conference, which runs from May 9-11 under the theme ‘Networking for Effective Service Delivery in the Public Sector,’ is being hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Cabinet Office of the Government of Jamaica and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).
Director of Scholarships and Assistance Unit in the Cabinet Office, Halcian Gallimore informed JIS News that the CFTC is one of the donor agencies with which the Government of Jamaica has a technical assistance cooperation relationship.”
Ms. Gallimore noted that, with a focus on capacity building, the London-based CFTC encourages co-operation among the developing Commonwealth countries, rather than a dependency on the developed ones, such as the United Kingdom, Canada or New Zealand, for training.
Noting that over the years, the organisation has provided training assistance in a number of technical areas, Ms. Gallimore pointed out that “in recent times they have shifted their emphasis and are now looking at specific areas relating to public sector reform, such as capacity building, institutional strengthening, and sustainable development”.
Explaining that the CFTC periodically meets with the POCs to assess the programme among the developing countries, Ms. Gallimore said, “we are expecting an enrichment of our collaborative relationships seeing that we expect persons with a wealth of experience to participate.”
Some 35 representatives from the senior levels of the public service, who have hands-on experience with the Commonwealth Secretariat within their countries are participating in the conference. These include Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries, and Heads of Departments.
Jamaica will be represented by six persons gleaned from the Cabinet Office, PIOJ and the Management Institute for National Development (MIND).
The meeting will include a series of presentations and discussions on the topics: Challenges and Issues of Points of Contact in Executing their Duties; How Can We Improve the Quality of Our Service Delivery; and Networking and Building Partnerships Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
“This is an opportunity for us to network with each other, share best practices and to maintain or establish contacts among the other persons, who have challenges similar to ours,” Ms. Gallimore noted.