Jamaica
- Population:
- 2.8 million
- Capital city:
- Kingston
- GDP per capita:
- $6,079
- HDI ranking:
- 100 out of 182
- Life expectancy:
- 72 years
VSO is working in Jamaica in the areas of participation and governance/access to justice, and youth economic and social inclusion.
Participation and governance/access to justice
Jamaican youth living in inner-city areas face severe challenges to their socio-economic success due to the prevalence of poverty, gang-related violence, and high rates of unplanned parenthood and HIV and AIDS. High involvement of unemployed youth in gangs has contributed to a homicide rate in Jamaica that is, according to the UNDP, four times the world’s average. The capital, Kingston, has the second highest per capita murder rate in the world.
Disadvantages imposed by violent and impoverished environments are compounded by high rates of teenage pregnancy, leaving young mothers unable to complete school or find sustainable, long-term employment to care for their families. Approximately 40 per cent of Jamaican women become pregnant before the age of 20. The absence of access to sexual health education and information in Jamaica has led to high rates of HIV and AIDS; an estimated 1-1.5 per cent of the adult population is living with HIV and AIDS.
VSO contributes to making formal and alternative justice mechanisms and processes more accessible and responsive to women and children – particularly those from marginalised groups – in confronting problems of violence and other abuses of their fundamental rights. It does so by directly supporting and linking existing local and national initiatives, and by facilitating exchange of relevant knowledge across national and regional boundaries.
Youth economic and social inclusion
Jamaican youth living in inner-city areas face severe challenges to their socio-economic success due to the prevalence of poverty, gang-related violence, high rates of unplanned parenthood, and HIV and AIDS. High involvement of unemployed youth in gangs has contributed to a homicide rate in Jamaica that is four times the world’s average.
Eighteen per cent of Jamaicans fall between the ages of 18 and 24. And half of Jamaica’s unemployed are between the ages of 14 and 25. More than 40 per cent of the 700,000 inhabitants of Kingston, the largest English-speaking city south of Miami, are between the ages of 14 and 30. 140,000 of these young people can be classified as “unattached,’ meaning they are not associated with any formal institutions, academic or professional.
The impact of CUSO-VSO is that young women and men confronting poverty, unemployment and social exclusion benefit from access to new opportunities for employment, education and community participation. This program is coordinated regionally, across four countries (Bolivia, Jamaica, Peru, El Salvador), and in cooperation with partner organisations in Canada. This regional approach enables us to add value to the initiatives we are supporting in different countries through knowledge-sharing activities.
