Page 85 - JSIF Magazine Approved-v2-web4
P. 85
What we do...
How we do it
By Loy Malcolm, General Manager, Technical Services - JSIF
The WHAT – Resilient communities; a key ingredient for National The investment portfolio has since evolved to support improved
Growth service delivery within and from the infrastructure. The ability of
persons to access and connect to these areas of service was
Any living thing must have the capacity to evolve and protect also supported.
itself, survive and grow. So it is with plants, animals, humans,
communities and nations. Resilience can be defined as the If we understand that JSIF targets the vulnerable and
ability to recover, bounce back and adapt to change. underserved, then the importance of connectivity to basic
The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), has sought to services is a crucial component in community development.
systematically invest in the building and strengthening of More importantly the sustainability of these infrastructures
communities at every level. If we look at communities as and their availability to provide service in the long term is
ecosystems i.e. interconnected systems of people, places, an important part of JSIF’s design considerations, as such
services, each interacting by growing, evolving, protecting resilience, maintenance and sustainability form the core of
itself and those within it; then we will acknowledge that the the deliberations on the design solution. It is this approach
complexities of the development agenda require deliberate and that sees JSIF twinning physical interventions with capacity
strategic investments if the benefits are to be reaped. building and governance support; inseparable components of
the community ecosystem.
In the early days JSIF’s support was focused on improving basic
infrastructure e.g. health centres, early childhood and primary Any ecosystem is from time to time faced with environmental
schools, roads, all of which connected and held communities factors that will challenge its existence and/or force a change.
together through the delivery of basic services to all. It is the resilience of the ecosystem that will determine if and
how it resists or adapts. Survival being the primary objective;
85
