Growth & Jobs | Govt agencies urged to seek technical support under Canada-CARICOM programme

Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are being encouraged to take advantage of the support available to them under the Canada-CARICOM Expert Deployment Mechanism (CCEDM).

The CCEDM is a four-year programme, funded by Global Affairs Canada for the benefit of CARICOM nations, that offers technical assistance in priority areas identified by the beneficiary governments.

It is being implemented locally by the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO).

Speaking at a recent JIS ‘Think Tank’, CESO’s regional representative for Jamaica and Belize, Natalie Morris, issued an appeal to all MDAs, noting that the programme has only reached about 20 per cent of its full capacity.

“The CCEDM programme is open and ready for any and every MDA that would love to get support, whether from a strategic or an operational perspective,” said Morris.

She pointed out that the CESO has a repository of more than 1,500 advisors who are deployed to provide free technical assistance to countries.

Meanwhile, chief technical director in the Ministry of Tourism, David Dobson, pointed out that, as a beneficiary of the programme, the ministry gained assistance in developing a data governance framework, as well as procedures to aid in the monitoring and evaluation of all its policies.

He noted that the CCEDM has “assisted greatly” and, as such, believes that, in future years, “the team within the ministry will be much stronger from these partnerships”.

“One of the things I liked most about it is that they did not just send [us] some persons to do a job. They submitted to us some curricula vitae and allowed us to select the persons that we thought were best suited to do the job [we] wanted to do,” Dobson added.

He pointed out that, since completing the training, particularly that on monitoring and evaluation, the Ministry of Tourism is often consulted by other ministries for assistance in some areas.

Dobson further encouraged MDAs on the benefits of the CCEDM.

“I would really encourage all government agencies to first of all have good work plans, good work programmes – have what you want to accomplish – and, as soon as the opportunity presents itself, do not waste time in responding … respond timely, so that you can benefit from the programme,” he emphasised.

HIGHLY TRAINED, SKILLED EXPERTS

For her part, deputy director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Barbara Scott, pointed out that capacity resource human needs and gaps will be reflected in the Medium Term Economic and Social Policy Framework (MTF), setting out the government’s plans for the next three years, as MDAs have already completed these.

“Here is an opportunity being provided by the CCEDM to support the achievement of your medium-term targets as established in the MTF,” said Scott.

She stressed that participating entities would get highly trained, skilled experts to work with MDAs in various ways, providing advice, training, whatever the need might be.

“I think this is an amazing opportunity that the Government has access to that we need to take advantage of,” Scott said.

The CCEDM was launched in 2021 and is valued at Can$4 million. It can facilitate 60 Jamaican assignments at an estimated J$67 million to assist public entities to build capacity in areas aligned to the National Development Plan.

To date, the Office of the Prime Minister; Ministry of Tourism; Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; Bureau of Standards Jamaica; Urban Development Corporation, and Airports Authority of Jamaica have benefited from technical assistance provided under the CCEDM programme.

To get involved in the programme, interested MDAs may contact Morris via email at nmorris@catalysteplus.org or call 876-807-5724. They may also get in touch with the PIOJ.

JIS