Canada assisting Jamaica through high-impact projects
LAURIE PETERS, Canada’s high commissioner to Jamaica, has hailed her country’s influence on helping to shape a more modern Jamaica through strong initiatives, citing as an example, the small-scale but high-impact Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) Programme.
The commission is once again providing funding for local initiatives to allow Jamaican non-governmental organisations to have a meaningful impact in their respective communities, with four selected from more than 60 applications.
“Close to 60 applications were submitted for this year. It was a good uptake, especially given the fact they didn’t have a long period of time to put forward the applications. So it was tough going. They were all good and strong applications as well,” she told The Gleaner at the Meet the Recipients reception at the Canadian High Commission in Kingston yesterday, adding that she was pleased that many of them looked at the cross-cutting themes of gender, youth, women, girls, and the environment.
FUNDING RECIPIENTS
The CFLI is an important component of Canada’s international development assistance agenda. It is a programme designed to fund small-scale bilateral projects in official development assistance.
This year’s recipients are EarthStrong, Young Women and Men of Purpose, the Sunbeam Children’s Home, and the Alligator Head Foundation. The organisations are located in the parishes of St Ann, Manchester, Portland, and St Catherine. They will undertake projects under the themes that are aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Goals.
“These themes align certainly with what Canada has in terms of our priorities. They align also with the sustainable development goals, so it makes good sense. We have every confidence in the four organisations that they have the track record and they have the proposals that will make a difference in their [respective] communities,” said Peters.
“We are not after one-offs. We are after projects that are sustainable and something that can have a far-reaching impact even beyond the communities in which these organisations are located.”
The majority of the Canada Fund is directed towards local civil society organisations, including non-governmental organisations and other institutions working at the local level. Partners may be local non-governmental organisations, parish or neighbourhood associations, and economic-interest groups.