From Jamaican Information Service

[Jamaican] Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. A.J. Nicholson, says the strengthening of capacities for more effective public service leadership in the Caribbean, is critical to the continued development of the region.

“We believe that sound leadership is a great enabler, helping governments to overcome poverty and to build safer and stronger nations, to achieve national goals for economic development and to engender societal well-being,” he stated.

Mr. Nicholson was addressing a cocktail reception held on Wednesday, July 24 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston for the first cohort of participants of the Caribbean Leadership Project (CLP).

He said the Government recognises that for the country to succeed, “it is a particular type and practice of leadership that is going to enable us to create and sustain the change necessary to effect good governance”.

As such, he said, the administration, through the Management Institute for the National Development (MIND), is moving to accelerate the country’s public sector leadership development thrust, through the establishment of the MIND Leadership Development Centre.

He informed that the centre, conceptualised since 2009, will, among other things, bring together on-going and new public sector leadership development initiatives, within a common infrastructure, with the appropriate delivery mechanisms and administrative linkages “that will cause us to grow our leadership competence as a  nation.”

CLP is a seven-year, CAD$20 million project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which is designed to strategically strengthen the next generation of Caribbean men and women leaders to contribute more effectively to regional integration and economic growth.

This will be accomplished by establishing a project specific to the needs and culture of the Caribbean region and by fostering regional approaches for the sustainability of leadership development.

There are five main pillars of the CLP: leadership development; creating an enabling environment; research; continuous learning and development network; and building communities of practice for project resources.

The 12 participating countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago

The project also targets key regional institutions, which play a pivotal role in advancing regional integration and economic development.

Senator Nicholson applauded the CLP Team and all others, who have contributed to the success of the programme. He also lauded the support of CIDA, noting that the Caribbean Community has enjoyed a close, long lasting and productive relationship with Canada.

“I look forward to the spin offs that will accrue, through the creation of an enabling environment, not just for leadership development, but for the practice of leadership,” he said.

“We see this experience of the CLP as a catalyst for a stronger Jamaica, for a stronger Caribbean, for strengthened regional co-operation and collaboration, and as a catalyst for more deliberate and focused efforts at developing the leadership capacity throughout the public service,” Senator Nicholson added.

Contact: Chris Patterson