This study explores the implications of a national identification system for Jamaica and provides evidence to support the need for a national identification card, including its economic value. Jamaica does not presently have an identification that serves as a general- purpose identification, usable across all activities. Such IDs, known as foundational IDs, are usually created with the general population in mind, rather than a specific group of citizens. It is the norm in many jurisdictions that such IDs are universally available and are used for multiple purposes. In Jamaica, instead of using a foundational ID, functional IDs, such as passport, electoral ID, and driver’s licence, together with the TRN, are used to authenticate citizens’ identity. Those means of identification were not intended to verify identities in other contexts, or by third parties, but rather to meet the objectives of the issuing organizations. These current ID systems are not only limited in their coverage and, for some, costly to obtain, but there is a lack of interconnectivity; that is, each system’s collection, processing, storage, and management of identity data is isolated from each of the others.

Any country which wants to maximize the productivity of its workforce, and to harness the full potential of its people towards economic growth and development, must proactively reduce or eliminate discrimination against groups of people who are excluded from full participation as a result of that discrimination.

In Jamaica, where discrimination against LGBT people is rife and amply documented, such discrimination results in a senseless waste of human potential, with negative implications for the country’s economic growth prospects. This report examines the landscape of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in Jamaica, and how that discrimination can be directly and indirectly tied to negative economic and social outcomes and thwarted developmental prospects.

Jamaica's extraordinarily high levels of violence undermine citizen security and retard economic growth. Over the past two decades, dozens of state and non-state actors, in a desire for peace, have initiated several violence-reduction/ intervention programmes in August Town. So when, in 2016, the violence plagued community recorded “zero murders,” all of Jamaica took note. The cries about how this was achieved, which, with the exception of 2016 remain unchanged. After decades of extraordinarily high violence, with a homicide rate of 120 per 100,000, how did August Town achieve this?

With reference to August Town’s “zero murders” in 2016, this study explores the various theories with the objective to distil “lessons” from August Town’s experience, particularly as it regards anti-violence interventions, with the aim to build knowledge on the different approaches to reducing violence in high violence settings; and ultimately to inform GoJ decisions regarding the direction of and investment in violence prevention intervention programmes in violence-ridden communities.

Despite many public statements at the highest level assuring commitment to environmental protection and sustainability, the Jamaican government has failed to operationalize these promises. Deforestation, soil erosion, degradation of coastal ecosystems, over-fishing, poor air quality, poorly managed parks and protected areas, pollution of harbours, rivers, streams and aquifers, unplanned and unregulated settlements in areas most vulnerable to natural disasters, inadequate management of solid and liquid waste, and poor development planning and control are key features of the state of Jamaica’s natural environment. It has long been recognized that the weakness of the environmental regulatory and institutional framework is the primary obstacle to good environmental stewardship.