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Position Paper of Jamaica Position Paper for the 2019 ESMOAS Summit of the AmericasGENERAL STATEMENT The Delegation of Jamaica is honored to attend the Organization of American States (OAS) Summit of the Americas 2019. Jamaica strives for continued peace and good relations amongst all of the member states in the OAS. As a proud member of CARICOM, we are privileged to once again meet with other great national leaders that also strive for diplomacy, peace, and democracy. Jamaica joined the OAS in 1969 and is proud to be a member state of such a wonderful organization, as the OAS and Jamaica both value personal freedoms and liberties such as freedom of expression, thought, speech and many others as enumerated in Jamaica's 1962 Constitution.The delegation of Jamaica feels that the role of its foreign policy is “to execute an inclusive and proactive foreign policy in a dynamic international environment aimed at maximizing Jamaica’s national growth and development.” The delegation of Jamaica prides itself for its wide range of allies in the OAS and its goals for peace and stability in the Caribbean and the OAS. The delegation of Jamaica is thrilled to discuss the urgent topics at hand such as election transparency, budgeting, youth participation, regional stability, and gang development. Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ term in office has brought remarkable and much needed economic improvement for the nation of Jamaica. “Since coming to power in 2016, the new Jamaican government, led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has transformed the country’s economy and business environment. The budget deficit has been eliminated, debt reduced, taxes reformed and legislation introduced to make doing business easier.” The delegation of Jamaica has seen considerable growth in our economy as well as significant crime reduction. Jamaica is ready to bring our experience to the table and help make the OAS and the America’s better.PARTICULAR STATEMENTS A. Committee: General Committee (GC)Topic one: Ensuring Fair and Transparent Campaigns and ElectionsThe delegation of Jamaica thanks the OAS for choosing to address such an urgent and relevant issue that many nations are facing. It is the opinion of the delegation of Jamaica that free and fair elections are absolutely essential for the continuation of peace and diplomacy. The people of Jamaica enjoy many liberties in the country such as free press, the ability to freely organize and assemble political parties of any beliefs, religious freedom, academic freedom, and freedom to vote freely. Voting rights are important to the government and the people of Jamaica. Jamaica has implemented programs to promote a higher voter turnout, “including strengthening campaign finance rules and making it easier for citizens to vote in areas outside their assigned polling station.” It is in the interest of the OAS and the delegation of Jamaica to promote Democracy throughout all the nations in the Americas. Article 2, Section B of the OAS charter states that a main principle of the OAS is, “To promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of nonintervention.” Throughout history, democracy and democratic processes have been proven to be the most effective political system for modern nations. Unlike other political systems, democracy promotes and upholds minority rights. Democracy ensures equality of every citizens voice; however, it necessitates free and fair elections. Voting rights are pertinent to ensuring equality in any nation, especially many developing nations that are in the OAS. The delegation of Jamaica believes that having inadequate voting rights is unacceptable, especially in this modern era. Topic Two: Addressing the Problems of a Shrinking OAS BudgetThe Delegation of Jamaica honors the OAS and all its efforts in the last decades to promote democracy, human rights, national sovereignty, and the great impacts the OAS has made in the lives of those in the Caribbean. For many decades, the OAS has been a beacon of peace and diplomacy in the hemisphere. The Organization of American States is very important to many different groups, countries, and demographics. Many states need the OAS for help and support during different crucial events in their nations’ history. The OAS has helped lift thousands of people out of poverty. However, the issue with the OAS budget is not necessarily that its funding is decreasing. The issue is that the OAS has not done an internal audit of all the programs it has agreed to fund throughout the years. Some of these programs are wasteful, outdated, and have not been keeping their programs running to the best of their abilities. Wasteful spending is a deterrent to the great work the OAS has done and could continue to do.Since Prime Minister Andrew Holness took office in 2016, the delegation of Jamaica has transformed its economic issues. Jamaica has increased its GDP growth by 2% and it has raised the nation’s overall GDP by over $1 billion USD. It has been proven by the nation of Jamaica that cutting wasteful spending and increasing the ease of business within a nation are essential to improving the economic wellbeing of a nation. Our country has seen the worst of difficult economic periods, but we have been able to overcome these great adversities and become successful once more. It is these kinds of policies that the OAS should study and consider using as examples to developing nations in the Americas. It is this knowledge and experience that our nation brings to the table in hopes of being able to help the OAS itself and other struggling nations. B. Committee: Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI)Topic One: Promoting Youth Participation in Government and CivicsThe OAS and the Delegation of Jamaica recognize that the youth represent the Americas' future and these rights and opportunities must be provided to them from an early age. The OAS has been active in responding to their needs by engaging, involving and empowering young citizens across the Hemisphere in an effort to promote equality, integral development, hemispheric security, and democratic governance.The OAS has created things such as The Young Americas Forum which is the official platform for the participation of young people in the Summits of the Americas processes; providing a permanent, open and inclusive channel for youth to proactively contribute in the definition of priorities and mandates in the region. The Model OAS General Assembly which designed to promote democratic values among the youth of the Hemisphere by familiarizing students, faculty and academic institutions of the Americas with the work of the OAS and its Member States, as well as with the Organization’s role as the premier political forum in the Hemisphere. The Eugene Scassa Mock Organization of American States program, being the nation’s only hybrid model conference, is an academic-centered program with 25 years of history, bringing together the nation's best and brightest college students to debate the issues facing the Western Hemisphere, as well as other programs that help and encourage youth with opportunities to make a change. These programs, among others, demonstrate the commitment of the OAS to youth in the hemisphere.Jamaica has worked on improving trust between young generations and their government, which in return would create more conventional participation amongst active youth. Jamaican State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Hon. Floyd Green, says the government has explored ways to enable youth participation in the country’s political decisions. Actions such as reinstating the National Youth Parliament two years ago that has appointed 6 youth advisors, who have sat on the policy decision-making boards for the National Identification System (NIDS). They have also reformed the Sexual Offences Act, and the Road Traffic Act, among others. He noted that the National Youth Policy, which was revised last year, has among its objectives “that we must maximize youth participation in the decision-making process.”The National Youth Policy of Jamaica has outlined and explored areas for action and indicates six priority areas, which are education and training, health and wellbeing, employment and entrepreneurship, youth participation, social inclusion and reintegration, and institutional and youth sector arrangements. Jamaica has created programs such as Jamaica House Fellowship Programme which seeks to empower youth through hands-on training in public policy decision-making, so as to allow young people to make meaningful contributions to national development. UNICEF has also brought into Jamaica its U-Report which is youth led and fosters genuine youth participation and has provided Jamaican youth a free social-messaging platform to allow them to voice what matters to them most and to speak on issues affecting them to make a change in their government. This caters to young people between the ages of 13 and 29, who can sign up to be U-Reporters via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Involving youth in critical decision making in Jamaica is a step forward in the process of an egalitarian society.The Delegation of Jamaica recognizes the efforts made by the OAS to support youths and provide them with opportunities to become active citizens in their countries and worldwide. Jamaica is proud of improving participation in its country’s politics amongst youth and young adults but believes more should be done around the world by adding more school and state programs that will help today’s youth gain skills, knowledge, confidence, and experience in political processes so they can effectively express their voices, lead positive change in their communities, and contribute practical solutions that help advance development in their country. This Delegation looks forward to hearing and discussing new ways and opportunities that will help further that goal of breaking down sociocultural and institutional barriers to participation. Youth represent the future of the Americas and it is of the utmost importance to provide them with the tools and opportunities they ic Two: Encouraging the Growth of Micro- and Small-Business Development The delegation of Jamaica realizes the importance of encouraging micro and small business growth in the OAS. The delegation of Jamaica would fully support the OAS decision to promote the growth of these economic factors for the OAS member states. Especially since the Jamaica’s economy heavily relies on small business to encourage growth in its economy.The Delegation of Jamaica is lucky to have no enemies and is very active in numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements, such as the OAS, CARICOM, and the Caribbean-Canada trade agreement. Jamaica trades with every country around the world yet does 40 percent of its trade with the United States of America. The OAS as well as The United States of America launched a project to promote small business in the five states of CARICOM, but the Delegation of Jamaica does not just benefit from this one agreement instead benefits from others. The Inter-American Competitive Network [RIAC] is a way for different companies to adopt one another's styles in order for the companies in different countries to grow and promote economic growth to the region. By having this agreement, struggling businesses might adopt new ways of growing, which in return make an economic difference in the country. Small Tourism Enterprise (2011) also benefits the delegation of Jamaica since a large portion of Jamaica’s revenue comes from small businesses. This agreement shows countries how to manage their micro or small business for tourism. This would greatly benefit the delegation of Jamaica since Jamaica’s economy is largely dependent on tourism, which generated 3 billion dollars for the country in 2017.The OAS has donated $2.73 million (USD) to the Delegation of Jamaica between 2016 and 2017 in order to encourage micro and small business growth. This money went to 16 different projects spanning from energy, security, as well as education. This money was spent in order to generate growth in the economy, by providing more jobs, which require advanced training or a higher education. The delegation of Jamaica should use funding for eco-friendly alternatives or companies going green. By doing this is would reduce the chances of destroying the delegation ecosystem, which generates the revenue as well as tourism for the country. The delegation of Jamaica hopes to pass an eco-friendly resolution, which would benefit not just Jamaica but the other delegations as well. This resolution would support eco-friendly business in order to maintain the natural beauty of the member states, which would allow tourism to continue and would highlight the rich diversity of the region. This would have the potential to generate business opportunities in the delegations and provide funds to the economies through tourism. This resolution would also be a steppingstone for climate change.C. Committee: Secretariat for Multidimensional Security (SMS)Topic One: Improving Cooperation on Border Security and Regional StabilityJamaica has been an active member of CARICOM and works closely with fellow members of that agreement. Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the OAS is the Jamaican Ambassador to the US. The Ambassador attends meetings of the OAS and its subcommittees to progress Jamaica's goals and to give support to the needs of the other Member States. Jamaica also takes part in OAS Ministerial Meetings to address education, social development, culture, tourism, justice, and labor. The delegation of Jamaica will continue to focus and address these issues while also addressing border security more specifically. The delegation of Jamaica is aware that Border Security is a major issue that this delegation must remain aware of. This is anything from refugees, to immigration, to illegal drug flow. Since 2018, Jamaica has made seizures of drugs valued at approximately $500,000 (USD).In order to have more effective border control, the government of Jamaica created the Border Protection Unit. The main purpose of this Unit is to allow the customs department to be more proactive and efficient in their approach to climate or reduce, as much as possible, any illegal activities that might threaten the stability and economy of the nation. This department of the government plays an important role in Jamaica's security as they are preventing the interdiction of illicit drugs and firearms, among other crimes such as combating property rights infringement, lottery scamming, and money laundering. In order to achieve this, the Jamaican government implements a structure that aggressively puts under investigation those who try to exploit the weaknesses of the Jamaican border and the nation's security coverage. The Border Protection Unit is built up around a structure that involves proper intelligence gathering, critical thinking, international affairs analysis and more, besides, those who work for the unit were specifically trained by an operational team. Jamaica has been showing progress throughout the years as the percentage of these crimes has decreased and the unit has been working closely with the government to increase the security of the nation.The government of Jamaica is determined to increase its border security in order to avoid been negatively impacted by it. In March of 2018, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the Jamaican government had decided on investing $11 billion with the purpose of improving border security, as part of its crime reduction strategy. Prime minister Holness said the money was going to be spread out among the unit to secure the border in terms of doing more searches and rescue operations, and also to monitor the entrances of illicit drugs to the country through the sea by enhancing the purchase of a coastal radar system.The delegation of Jamaica looks forward to sharing its proposals to address the issue of border security and regional stability. In particular, the delegation of Jamaica will highlight the way security measures implemented by our country could be expanded to the region. Topic Two: Addressing High Rates of Incarceration and Gang DevelopmentThe state of Jamaica is honored to be a member of the OAS and is excited to work with all members to achieve the fundamental goal of peace and security of the continent (OAS Charter, Article 2[a]). The state of Jamaica is also a proud member of the following Organizations: the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Association of Caribbean States, and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. The delegation of Jamaica hopes that together we can all work on reducing gang development which would ultimately decrease high incarceration rates in the nation thus accomplishing the OAS goal of reaching peace and security across the American continent.The OAS has done much for Jamaica as the OAS is dedicated to combating this problem and supports projects that focus on supply and demand reduction and developing stronger anti-drug institutions. In an attempt to reduce the demand for drugs from where gangs benefit, the OAS held a meeting in Cartagena, Colombia to discuss the issue and come up with plans to find a possible solution that would eventually benefit us all. In the past, Jamaica has been working on programs like The National strategic Anti-Gang Unit which was established in July 2012 to degrade the capability of gangs. The program has provided investigative support to the Divisional Proactive Investigation Teams, as well as to the Divisional Street Crime Units in order to enhance local operational effectiveness with the goal to reduce fear and the incidence of violent crimes that affect the quality of life of the citizens.The state of Jamaica acknowledges that, unfortunately, when it comes to crime rates Jamaica is listed as one top countries in the hemisphere, however the state of Jamaica continues to work on lowering the crime rates for the security of the nation, which resulted on the country seeing a 21.7 percent drop the national murder rate in the year 2018. In an effort to reduce incarceration rates, Jamaica also decriminalized marijuana in February 2015. Prime Minister Holness is certain the decriminalization of marijuana will also help to reduce the affiliation of youth with gangs, as more individuals will avoid jail and have the opportunity to pursue a successful life.Recently on April 2019 the state of Jamaica declared a state of emergency to continue the fight against gangs. The state of emergency allows the government of Jamaica to exercise the Emergency Powers Act, which allows security forces to enter premises and seize property without a warrant, as well as declare curfews in order to secure the protection of the citizens. The citizens of Jamaica support the government’s effort to increase security since the crime that come from gangs affects their sales by lowering tourism on the island, which ultimately affects the economy of the country. On July 2019 Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness announced on his visit to a New Testament Church how he believed his administration will drastically reduce murders in the country. As he told the audience, “Our crime situation is indeed a challenge for our country and a threat to our economic success. But we will not be daunted. '' the delegation of Jamaica is on board with Prime Minister Holness and has issued a resolution that attacks drug trafficking through the Caribbean with the purpose to defeat the primary income of gang development which lead to high incarceration rates across the nation. Prime Minister Holness and the delegation are proud of the improvements made to decrease crime rates in the last couple of years, with the Prime Minister highlighting the importance of this improvement when he noted, “I believe that that is something that Jamaican can be proud of along with our economic recovery.” Jamaica hopes to continue to see improvements not only in our own country, but also throughout the hemisphere by using the help of the OAS and its members while working together on plans to decrease high incarceration rates and gang developments until the peace and security of our states has been achieved. ................
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