KINGSTON, Jamaica – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi Country Office in Jamaica will commemorate 50 years of service to the government and people of Jamaica on 26 January 2026. This year’s commemoration heralds 26 January 1976 as the day that the Agreement formalising UNDP services to Jamaica entered into force immediately following an official signing ceremony in Kingston.
Official records confirm that the signatories to the UNDP Standard Basic Assistance Agreement (SBAA) on 26 January 1976 were Dr G.G Bonnick, chief technical director of the National Planning Agency, the organization that predates the Planning Institute of Jamaica, and R.J Crooks, UNDP’s Resident Representative at the time.
In honour of this significant milestone, the Multi Country Office has curated a year of commemorative activities with national partners under the theme, “A Legacy of Resilience: 50 Years and Counting”, starting Monday.
Confirmed activities to date include keynote remarks on 26 January by UNDP Resident Representative Dr Kishan Khoday at the annual Sir W. Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture by the University of West Indies, focusing on “The UNDP-Jamaica Partnership at 50: Transformative Legacies and the Future of Development”; as well as premiere of UNDP’s 50th Anniversary Commemorative short film documenting successes achieved by national and local partners across Jamaica; release of a new UNDP song tribute; a special event on World Social Justice Day to launch a new digital App to enhance future Access to Justice for vulnerable communities; a nation-wide series of site visits to review community achievements on environmental sustainability on the road to World Biodiversity Day; and a Public Forum and Dialogue series on Climate and Disaster Resilience to mark UNDPs close to 50 years of partnerships in Jamaica on the climate change and disaster recovery agenda.
“From the onset of UNDPs activities in Jamaica decades ago, we have worked in partnership with the people and government to build the foundations for sustainable, inclusive development and create opportunities for the nation to thrive. This has resulted in five decades of pioneering solutions and local impact, with more to come. Considering rapid changes taking shape today globally and regionally, and the serious impacts of hurricane Melissa, UNDP dedicates this commemorative year to highlighting past good practices and launching new scaled-up initiatives for building a resilient future on the road to 2030 and beyond,” Dr Khoday stated.
He commended Jamaica for outstanding achievements over five decades, stating that UNDP deemed it a privilege to have contributed to the nation’s key priorities and aspirations for eradicating poverty, combating inequality, advancing action on climate change and biodiversity, reducing crime and violence, enhancing governance and access to justice, and disaster risk reduction and recovery.
Over the years, UNDP’s Multi-Country Office has led the provision of UNDP’s local services to Jamaica as well as The Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Today, it engages strategic partnerships in all five countries and territories for the benefit of local development goals towards 2030 and beyond.
The 50th year golden jubilee commemoration also follows the 2025 commemoration of UNDP’s global establishment 50 years ago in 1965. The signing of the UNDP basic agreement in Kingston in 1976 set the foundation for a formalised and official presence by UNDP’s Multi-Country Office and for the expansion of its local development projects.
