The continued relevance of national development plans, such as Vision 2030 Jamaica –National Development Plan (NDP), have come into question in the post COVID-19 era. This challenge of relevance is largely owing to the impact of the social and economic disruptions associated with the pandemic. It is also linked to gaps in states’ capacities to develop long-term plans that are continuously implemented across different political administrations and/or are responsive to shifts in the social influence of main power brokers.

COVID-19 has compounded the risk of systemic- and structural- based threats, including climate change and conflict. The current reality is characterised by uncertainty, the erosion of development gains, and efforts to recover from and slow the pace of losses. Inadequacies in global and national systems to deliver sustainable and inclusive development and/or respond to crisis, have been exposed. However, the present development context has also served as an accelerator for state and private innovation, agility, and adaptation. It has presented opportunities to build on areas of resilience and capitalize on cracks in the “norm” to address structural impediments to development.  

Data analyses show a gradual recovery in key areas that impact citizenry empowerment and enablement to meet basic needs and access goods and services associated with improved living standards. That said, the pace and inequities within the recovery, suggest significant shifts in spatial and demographic distribution of opportunities and wealth. These are likely to impact progress towards national and global 2030 goals. The risk of these challenges creating new and/or augmenting existing structural impediments to sustainability and inclusion is a critical consideration in adapting national development plans to respond to the realities of the post-COVID era. 

The scope of uncertainty and instability in the post-COVID era extends beyond experiences in governance, socio-economic organization and living standards. It includes gaps in the capacity to produce forecasts and projections that narrowly vary from data on actual performance. The pandemic has impacted the validity and reliability of the assumptions that inform projections. It has therefore impacted predictive analyses, which are a central tenet of the evidence basis of medium- to long term planning. These predictive analyses facilitate coherence and integration of short-term tactical responses with medium- and long- term strategic interventions. The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) in its April – June 2020 Quarterly Press Briefing noted this challenge in producing its quarterly growth projections.  The PIOJ indicated that the January – March 2020 projections showed a larger than typical variation from data on actual GDP produced by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica. The statement of this challenge was repeated in subsequent Briefings. Hence, over the period January 2020 to June 2021, the narrowest variation between PIOJ’s projections and the official GDP data was for the January – March 2020 quarter, when the first case of COVID-19 infection was recorded in Jamaica. Notably, both the projections and data on actual economic performance  showed economic recovery after the highest rate of contraction, which was recorded in the April – June 2020 quarter. However, the variations between projected and actual performance, regarding the direction and rate of growth, were noticeably larger than in the pre-COVID period. 

An examination of the wider global environment showed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised projections for global growth throughout 2020 in response to a rapidly and unpredictable global context. In its World Economic Outlook^[1], the IMF’s projections for global growth in 2020 ranged from 3.3 per cent global growth in the January 2020 issue to 3 per cent contraction in April 2020, 4.9 per cent contraction in June 2020; and suggestions of gradual recovery in October 2020 with a revised 4.4 per cent contraction. The projections as at July 2021 showed a 3.2 per cent contraction for 2020, and 6.0 and 4.0 per cent growth for 2021 and 2022, respectively. The IMF also noted inequity in access to vaccines as a major factor in its determination of inverse prospects for developing and developed countries in 2021. While lowered growth prospects were anticipated for emerging and developing economies, the prospects for developed countries improved.

Global poverty increased in 2020 – the first time in over 20 years. While poverty estimates, like most other projections and forecasts in the post-COVID era, vary and have been repeatedly revised, the rise in global poverty has been demonstrably significant. Early estimates for global poverty in 2020 largely ranged between 100 and 200 million additional persons living in poverty (Sevimli 2020; ECLAC 2021). Based on data and analysis up to June 2021, the World Bank estimated that global poverty will increase by 97 million persons, an over 20 million reduction compared to January estimates of between 119 and 124 million. Also, it was estimated that poverty will decline by 21 million in 2021, the same as was projected before the pandemic. However, this will prove insufficient to offset the increase in poverty in 2020 and achieve the pre-pandemic projected reduction. The effects of COVID-19 are expected to impact most countries through 2030 with middle-income countries, home to over 80% of the new poor, based on World Bank projections. The International Labour Organization (ILO) in its 2020 Labour Overview stated that in Latin America and the Caribbean “30 million people are unemployed and 23 million will have left the workforce due to the lack of opportunities”^[2]. The ILO further posited a slow recovery in the labour market with projections showing the possibility of long-term demographic and geographic inequality and fewer decent jobs (ILO 2021). 

Returning to the local context, data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) showed that unemployment increased from its record low of 7.2 per cent in October 2019 to over 10 per cent in 2020, with a high of 12.7 per cent in July 2020^[3]. While there was recovery in 2021, with unemployment declining to 8.5 per cent in July, the rate remained above pre-pandemic levels. Data for 2020 from the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) business and consumer indices, showed fluctuations in business and consumer confidence across the quarters since COVID-19 was first recorded in Jamaica in March 2020. These fluctuations were linked to disease spread and containment measures (Jamaica Observer, October 2020). However, when data up to June 2021 are considered, there was a re-emergence of business and consumer confidence, though both remained below pre-pandemic levels and the record high in 2017 (Jamaica Observer, July 2021).

Environmental sustainability remains a central theme in global development. The impact of COVID-19, including the effects of containment measures, is proving to be a pivotal dynamic for what will be the dimensions, cross-sectoral linkages and outcomes of environmental challenges and their management. This includes redefinitions and reframing of threats in areas such as sustainable consumption and production and climate change. The findings in a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing show mixed environmental outcomes associated with COVID-19. In 2020, there were decreased emissions and improved air quality – which were posited as temporary owing to their linkage with pandemic related measures. There was increased reliance on single-use plastics, and within the context of lower oil prices, there was increased use of fossil fuel in areas such as material for plastics. These were associated with undermining efforts at advancing sustainability within circular economies and reducing plastic waste, among other adverse consequences. Further assessment shows that the evolving “new normal” regarding economic organization, how and/or where we live and work is expected to impact waste, pollution, and other threats to the environment to extents that will serve as determinative factors in the achievement of climate and other environmental development goals. Considerations here include the nature and pace of changes in social organization and the structure of economies, which serve as social and economic drivers for environmental outcomes. The location of work (home or office), transportation, inputs for production such as raw material and energy, and land use – and the extent to which they are aligned with environmental sustainability policy – are among the critical development drivers (OECD 2021). 

The pandemic has also exacerbated inequities in access to environmental goods and services as well as health, education, and market opportunities including in the labour market. These economic, social, and environmental development challenges have created universal displacements.  Concurrently, inadequate frameworks for the integration of migrants as well as dislocation and forced migration owing to conflict and inequities, remained critical development challenges in need of urgent action. The interconnections of these factors have augmented the potential negative impacts of COVID-19 on some of the world’s most vulnerable.   

There is also consideration for the emerging implications of the pandemic on development cooperation and financing, the implementation of development strategies, and challenges to identify adaptive policy as a framework for programming that will effectively respond to not only immediate but future shocks. The social and economic fall-out and the uncertainties and insecurities that have been introduced or augmented have also deepened cracks and fractures in social relations and trust in governance within and among societies. While, in 2019, over 80 per cent of the world’s population were estimated to live in countries with a government-led national development plan (Chimhowu et al. 2019), trust, which is highly linked to the quality of governance and government (Rainie and Perrin 2019; OECD 2019) has been below what is desirable. The World Happiness Report identifies trust as one of the factors affecting happiness^[4]. Low trust in governance is invariably associated with low trust in a state’s capacity for development and/or the equitable distribution of the benefits of development; this does not auger well for faith in national development planning, especially in times of crisis. 

In spite of the challenges, the global consensus on the relevance of long-term national development planning that has gained momentum over the past two decades, remains intact. Across nation states, a long-term national development plan framework is increasingly being widely embraced as a necessity for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The relevance of long-term national development planning was also recognized in policy-based responses to the 2008 global financial crisis. These included recommendations to utilize long-term national development planning as the basis for ensuring that necessary structural changes were advanced in the short to medium term policy and planning responses. The continued relevance of these recommendations should be assessed within the context of lessons learned from the applications of development planning in the post-COVID era. 

Crafting policy and planning responses to a crisis is simply a first step. Ensuring that policy and planning equitably address all targeted groups and structural and other issues, as planned, requires a menu of responses. These include growth strategies, governance, partnership and managing value chains. An example from economic development, which illustrates this point, centres around a widescale economic challenge and policy issue that was associated with the global financial crisis and now the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge can be described as unequal capacity for economic/market participation and resilience as well as opportunities for income generation across sectors, social groupings and enterprises of different size, scale, and formalization. The impact has included severe and long-lasting losses in the real economy/sector where the majority of the citizenry of a country work and do business. The depletion of personal asset value and impediments to asset creation are also negative impacts that are to be considered. These development challenges have necessitated responses to the following questions: (1) how do we identify what structural issues are associated with the market dysfunctions and social disparities that lead to these outcomes; (2) how can we develop appropriate medium term strategic responses as we advance and continue to pursue long-term national strategic change; (3) how can we build capacity for coordination of the actors that implement policy; and (4) how can we promote adherence to the principles that inform policy and planned outcomes towards “leaving no one behind”. 

The pandemic has prompted an increase in the desirability and applications of planning tools that include uncertainty as a critical consideration or predictive factor, such as cross-sectoral “sensitivity analyses” and “scenario planning”. Sensitivity analysis informs planning for the potential effects of probable changes/differences in performance in various factors on planned outcomes. Scenario planning in response to COVID-19 has included focus on short-term “operational and tactical” (Gale 2020) responses and longer-term strategic responses. How do we develop systems to reconcile shifts in priorities owing to realized “unlikely” or “unanticipated” scenarios while maintaining a long-term strategic path for development? How do we respond to the undesirable outcomes of the interdependencies and relationships among sectors and various tenets of well-being that are being generated by a development ecosystem in which the impact of COVID-19 has been infused? Long-term strategic planning in the post-COVID era is challenged to reconcile tensions between short-term tactical responses and long-term strategy, with consideration for disconnects between short-term targets and long-term goals within contexts of uncertainty and possible fluctuations. The factors of uncertainty to inform modelling and forecasting are compounded within states with less than the required fiscal space for development spending and higher levels of vulnerabilities to natural and man-made shocks. These tend to create disproportionate focus on recovery from shocks and supplementary budgeting, which challenge the reconciliation of short term tactical responses and long term strategic planning.   

The global dialogue has helped to shape and distinguish critical areas for consideration in advancing national development planning. The research and policy recommendations from regional and international development actors have been instructive. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD 2020) discussions for strengthened national development strategies to address challenges with a focus on COVID-19 and its aftermath served as an important axis for interpretation of the discourse. These coupled with documentation on lessons learned from Jamaica’s national experience in the implementation of Vision 2030 Jamaica have informed the following recommendations for relevant and strengthened long-term national development planning:

• The realignment and strengthening of the evidence-basis of public and development policy and programming towards building greater resilience, addressing vulnerabilities, and creating relevant design concepts and strategic plans which are also temporally and spatially replicable. The utilization of a “continuous learning from evidence^[5]” approach is critical. The approach integrates policy, strategy, and programme related performance/results based monitoring and evaluation (M&E) with evidence from research and consultations on the broader development context. It should be operationalized within an integrated framework that includes strategic planning tools that are designed to address uncertainty. These include scenario planning and sensitivity analyses and what the authors have dubbed “click monitoring and analysis”. “Click monitoring and analysis” is utilized to identify and define in real-time, emerging trends, movements, novelties and “fringe actions” that have potential for growth and catalytic and long-term impact. The “continuous learning from evidence” approach may be useful in identifying and addressing:
  • “Cyclical turbulences” that arise in the medium term and should be addressed in the policy frameworks for implementation, such as Jamaica’s successive 3-year Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework under Vision 2030 Jamaica 
  • “Long-term structural bottlenecks” that typically are identified among the core development problems in establishing the context for development and which long-term national development strategies are designed to address. The National Strategy Framework under Vision 2030 Jamaica identifies the prioritized domain areas (sectoral areas of focus) for development towards the achievement of 15 National Outcomes under 4 National Goals.
• The strengthening of the linkages between national development priorities and global policy priorities, including global development frameworks, agendas, and goals towards increased coherence. This should be informed by increased monitoring of national and global development challenges and their interconnections for greater capacity to anticipate global shocks. The interlinked national and global policy priorities should be infused in strategic considerations for multi-lateral cooperation towards more efficient and effective use of resources.
  • On-going environmental scanning and assessment is being integrated in the evidence- and results-based management framework of Vision 2030 Jamaica to strengthen capacity to foresee global shocks and facilitate more timely evidence-based recommendations to policymakers regarding policy prioritization and realignments. Environmental Scans have typically been aligned with the research processes that inform the identification of medium-term development priorities – every 3 years – and specific tasks.

This approach is to be applied in promoting coherence between national and local level priorities.

• The strengthening of participatory development, partnerships and building social capital towards increased stakeholder engagement and buy-in
• The promotion of political ownership and support along with establishing planning agencies/units etc. with relevant skills and competencies is a critical success factor in transformational leadership and policy driven development. This has been the case in Jamaica, with the unbroken implementation of Vision 2030 Jamaica since it was launched in 2009 attributed to these factors. There has been bi-partisan support from the two major political parties throughout the formulation, launch and implementation of Vision 2030 Jamaica. The implementation of the Plan has been coordinated and championed by the central development planning agency, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).
• A framework for the means of implementation, which is continuously reviewed and strengthened is also critical. This includes –
  • Maintaining policy relevance and promoting programming that represent policy implementation.
  • The costing of national development strategies and establishing sustainable and performance-based frameworks and sources for development financing. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2018/2019 roll-out across government, by the Ministry with portfolio responsibility for finance^[6], of Medium Term Results-Based Budgeting (MTRBB) that is aligned to Vision 2030 Jamaica represented a significant step in strengthening the performance-based development financing framework. This in addition to a fiscal policy framework and efforts to develop an Integrated Results-Based Management Policy (IRBM) have laid the foundation for a current initiative to develop a costing framework for the Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) of Vision 2030 Jamaica. The United Nations (UN) led efforts to advance innovative financing through an impact-based mechanism is also noteworthy.
  • The integration of the national planning and data/official statistics functions in government’s corporate planning and budgetary allocation, is also noteworthy.
  • Strengthening the relevance of the implementation framework, including the national strategy and partnership frameworks and institutional mechanisms for national development, is also a critical success factor. The capacity for aligned, coherent and integrated development planning at the global, national, and local levels and across sectors requires balance in the distribution of power, knowledge, capacity, and resources based on common and shared framework(s). This represents more than a deviation from reliance on top-down or bottom-up approaches and requires a re-imagining of how we approach development. It involves establishing strategic policy coordination oriented frameworks with guidance notes for adaptation, adoption, and implementation at all levels and across sectors.
    • Hence, there is no one actor or group of actors that seek to coordinate planning, implementation, and performance management at all levels and across sectors. The focus is instead governance of the alignment of all processes to a common framework, such as Vision 2030 Jamaica and the SDGs.
    • Within this schema, relationships across sectors and at global, national, and local levels are policy-, principle- and rule- based with focus on varying horizontal and vertical layers of coordination and governance related to a central governance institutionalized framework that guides development.
    • A key benefit of this approach is enhanced capacity for coherence in “real-time” agility and adaptation within and across the different layers of development. Illustratively, at the national level, Vision 2030 Jamaica can agilely adapt in “real time” or the “short-term” to address requirements for strategic shifts in national planning (national strategy framework), but not local and organizational planning and programming. Similarly, a Local Sustainable Development Plan (LSDP) can agilely adapt in “real time” or the “short-term” to address requirements for shifts in broad strategy and programming for the locale generally but not for individual communities and enterprises operating in the locale.
    • Within the context of inclusive and localized national development planning, agility is demonstrated to be best facilitated by the interaction between frameworks and institutional arrangements, whether strategy, performance management and partnerships.
    • Accordingly, agile adaptation with continued alignment to the national strategy framework can only be achieved if there are frameworks and institutional arrangements for real-time and accessible communication between layers. These should be geared towards ensuring that national strategies represent shared realities and development needs. They should also ensure that revisions to national strategies are immediately communicated to all stakeholders, with guidelines and support for their integration and adoption.
  • The advancement of technology enablement geared to support adaptation and agility and access to public goods and services for sustainable and inclusive growth. This includes digitalization and equity in access to technology products and services. It also includes the infusion of cultural values and norms that support the application of technology and innovation towards improved productivity, competitiveness, and growth. 

Closing Thoughts

The current era has been characterized by modern advances in medicine and technology and international cooperation in areas such as health and disease management.  These had created a “shell of resilience” to global pandemics, especially for those in more developed countries.  COVID-19 has exposed the inherent vulnerability associated with the reality that unknowns are a part of the human existence, and we cannot plan for everything. It has also exposed structural vulnerabilities that have traditionally been given inadequate attention and are associated with the size of the global death toll and challenges in managing the virus. This has simultaneously reawakened and redefined the questions regarding the effectiveness of long-term national development planning and the possibilities for small island developing states (SIDS) such as Jamaica to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth through self-reliance and cooperation, rather than dependency. The current context has also demonstrated the strengths of long-term national development strategies in providing a framework for continuity, building resilience, recovery and strengthening policy for sustainability and inclusion. We are challenged to respond to current realities in ways that do not jeopardize the realization of our long-term goals. The changing normative framework of the post-COVID era offers us an opportunity to effect systemic and structural changes that embed resilience and adaptation within a revitalized development model towards recovery and accelerated growth.

[1] World Economic Outlook Update, January 2020: Tentative Stabilization, Sluggish Recovery?, January 9, 2020; World Economic Outlook, April 2020: The Great Lockdown, April 6, 2020; World Economic Outlook Update, June 2020: A Crisis Like No Other, An Uncertain Recovery, June 24, 2020; World Economic Outlook, October 2020: A Long and Difficult Ascent, October 7, 2020.  Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/weo; https://www.imf.org/en/Search#q=World%20Economic%20Outlook%20October%202020&sort=relevancy

[2] ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (December 17, 2020).  Source: https://www.ilo.org/caribbean/newsroom/WCMS_764678/lang–en/index.htm

[3] Labour Force Statistics, Main Labour Force Indicators – Unemployment Rate.  Source: https://statinja.gov.jm/LabourForce/NewLFS.aspx

[4] Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 2020.  World Happiness Report.  Source: https://worldhappiness.report/news/its-a-three-peat-finland-keeps-top-spot-as-happiest-country-in-world/

[5] Includes learning from performance/results based monitoring and evaluation and other sources of evidence on broader development context

[6] Ministry of Finance and the Public Service (MOFPS).  The MOFPS is the parent ministry for the PIOJ.

Vision 2030 Jamaica Secretariat, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ)

Authors: Peisha Bryan-Lee, Travis Reid, Shannique Perry, Samantha Wilmot

References

1. Chimhowu, Admos O., David Hulme, and Lauchlan T. Munro. 2019. “The ‘New’

National Development Planning and Global Development Goals: Processes and Partnerships.” World Development, vol. 120: 76-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.03.013

1. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 2021.

“Pandemic Prompts Rise in Poverty to Levels Unprecedented in Recent Decades and Sharply Affects Inequality and Employment.” ECLAC Press Release, March 4, 2021. https://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/pandemic-prompts-rise-poverty-levels-unprecedented-recent-decades-and-sharply-affects

1. European Environment Agency (EEA). 2020. “COVID-19 and Europe’s environment:

impacts of a global pandemic.” EEA Briefing, first published November 5, 2020 and last modified March 25, 2021. https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/covid-19-and-europe-s/covid-19-and-europes-environment

1. Gale, Steven. 2020. “COVID-19 Reignites Interest in Scenario Planning for

Development…But Will it Last?” Guest Contributor. Wilson Center. New Security Beat. The blog of the Environmental Change and Security Program, June 29, 2020. https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/06/covid-19-reignites-interest-scenario-planning-development-last/

1. Hawke, Angela. 2021. “Safeguarding the Health of Refugee and Migrant Children

During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the “RM Child-Health” Initiative for Refugee and Migrant Children.” Article, UNICEF, February 1, 2021. https://www.unicef.org/eca/stories/safeguarding-health-refugee-and-migrant-children-during-covid-19-pandemic

1. International Labour Organization (ILO). 2021. “Slow Jobs Recovery and Increased

Inequality Risk Long-Term COVID-19 Scarring.” World Economic and Social Organization Trends, ILO, June 2, 2021. https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_794834/lang–en/index.htm

1. International Labour Organization (ILO) Regional Office for Latin America and the

Caribbean. 2020. “Labour Overview 2020: COVID-19 leaves a trail of high unemployment, inactivity and precarious employment in Latin America and the Caribbean”. Newsroom, ILO, December 17, 2020. https://www.ilo.org/caribbean/newsroom/WCMS_764678/lang–en/index.htm

8. International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2021. “Fault Lines Widen in the Global

Recovery.” World Economic Outlook Update, IMF, July 27, 2021. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2021/07/27/world-economic-outlook-update-july-2021

9. International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2020. “A Long and Difficult Ascent”. World

Economic Outlook, IMF, October 7, 2020. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/09/30/world-economic-outlook-october-2020

10. International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2020. “A Crisis Like No Other, An Uncertain

Recovery”.  World Economic Outlook Update, IMF, June 24, 2020. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/06/24/WEOUpdateJune2020

1. International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2020. “The Great Lockdown”. World Economic

Outlook, IMF, April 6, 2020. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/04/14/weo-april-2020

12. International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2020. “Tentative Stabilization, Sluggish

Recovery?” World Economic Outlook Update, IMF, January 9, 2020.

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/01/20/weo-update-january2020

13. International Organization for Migration (IOM). 2021. “COVID-19 and Mobility “. IOM

COVID-19 Response Statement, March 25, 2021.  https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/covid19-response/institutional_statement_covid19_03-20215.pdf

1. Jackson, Steven. 2021. “Consumer, business confidence re-emerging.” The Gleaner,

July 21, 2021. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20210721/consumer-business-confidence-re-emerging

1. Jamaica Observer. 2021. “Consumer and business confidence up…but still not at pre-

COVID levels.” July 21, 2021. https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-observer/consumer-and-business-confidence-up-but-still-not-at-pre-covid-levels_226637 

1. Jamaica Observer. 2020. “Business, consumer confidence lowest since 2017 – JCC.”

October 20, 2020. https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Business,_consumer_confidence_lowest_since_2017,_JCC

1. Johnstone, Stewart, George Saridakis and Adrian Wilkinson. 2019. “The Global

Financial Crisis, Work and Employment: Ten Years On.”  First Published, Sage Journals. Economic and Industrial Democracy, July 26, 2019.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0143831X19866532

1. Mahler, Daniel Gerszon,  Nishant Yonzan, Christopher Lakner, R. Andres Castaneda

Aguilar, and Haoyu Wu. 2021. “Updated estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty: Turning the corner on the pandemic in 2021?” World Bank Blogs, June 21, 2021. https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/updated-estimates-impact-covid-19-global-poverty-turning-corner-pandemic-2021

1. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD). 2021. “The long-

term environmental implications of COVID-19.” OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19), May 31, 2021.  https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/the-long-term-environmental-implications-of-covid-19-4b7a9937/

1. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD). 2020. “National

Development Strategies in the Time of COVID-19.” Development Centre – Governing Board of the Development Centre. Governing Board Thematic Session on National Development Strategies for Resilience & Policy Coherence, September 11, 2020. https://www.oecd.org/dev/HLM-Thematic-note-National-Development-Strategies-resilience-policy-coherence.pdf

1. Planning Institute of Jamaica. 2020. Review of Economic Performance,

April-June 2020. Media Brief, September 9, 2020.  https://www.pioj.gov.jm/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PIOJ-Quarterly-Press-Briefing-Script_FINAL.pdf

1. Rainie, Lee and Andrew Perrin. 2019. “Key Findings about Americans’ Declining Trust

in Government and Each Other”. FACTTANK News in the Numbers. Pew Research Center, July 22, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/22/key-findings-about-americans-declining-trust-in-government-and-each-other/

23. Robinson, Abbion. 2020. “Despite COVID-19, crime the most critical issue facing

Jamaica, JCC survey reveals-Business and consumer confidence continue downward trend.” The Jamaica Observer, October 21, 2020. https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-observer-daily-biz/despite-covid-19-crime-the-most-critical-issue-facing-jamaica-jcc-survey-reveals-business-and-consumer-confidence-continue-downward-trend_205890?profile=1056

1. Sevimli, Ozan. 2020. “End Poverty Day Jamaica: Focusing on the Immediate but

Prioritizing the Future.” Jamaica Observer. World Bank, October 19, 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/opinion/2020/10/19/end-poverty-day-jamaica-focusing-on-the-immediate-but-prioritizing-the-future

1. Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). 2021. “Labour Force Statistics, Main Labour

Force Indicators – Unemployment Rate.” https://statinja.gov.jm/LabourForce/NewLFS.aspx

1. Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). 2021. “Quarterly Rate of Growth of Value

Added by Industry at Constant (2007) Prices (Seasonally Adjusted).” https://statinja.gov.jm/NationalAccounting/Quarterly/NewQuarterlyGDP.aspx

1. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 2020. “World Happiness Report.”

https://worldhappiness.report/news/its-a-three-peat-finland-keeps-top-spot-as-happiest-country-in-world/

1. United Nations. 2020. “Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants and Refugees in the Arab

Region – Technical Paper”. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—arabstates/—ro-beirut/documents/publication/wcms_764756.pdf

1. van Dijck, Jose and Donya, Alinead. 2020. “Social Media and Trust in Scientific

Expertise: Debating the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Neatherlands.”  Sage Journals – Communication, Media Studies, Language & Linguistics, December 15, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2056305120981057. 

1. World Bank. 2021. “Understanding Poverty – Poverty Overview.” World Bank, April

15, 2021. Last updated October 14, 2021. Poverty Overview (worldbank.org)

1. World Bank. n.d. “Citizen Engagement and Stakeholder Consultations during COVID-

19.” Fact Sheet. http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/875401606251371090/Fact-Sheet-Citizen-Engagement-and-Stakeholder-Consultations-during-COVID-19.pdf

Up Next: Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF), Part 1 (December, 2021)