UNDP mobilises US$2 million in recovery grants

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has mobilised an initial US$2 million in Resilient Recovery grants to support Jamaica’s rebuilding efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

This follows a surge mission to Jamaica by UNDP’s global and regional crisis response teams, who worked with the agency’s Multi-Country Office in Kingston to assess national and local needs. Consultations were held with government, civil society, the private sector, multilateral development banks, other UN agencies and communities in critically affected areas.

Ronald Jackson, UNDP’s global head of disaster risk reduction, recovery and resilience, played a lead role in the mission. He is a former head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management

The grants are designed to stabilise affected communities, restore livelihoods for vulnerable groups and support national authorities in Jamaica’s ‘Building Forward Better’ strategy, which integrates resilience into recovery planning.

“Crises can be opportunities to build forward better,” said Kishan Khoday, UNDP resident representative in Jamaica. “We aim to enhance institutional capacities and systems for recovery, and to integrate climate-resilient, risk-informed and nature-based solutions into planning. Future efforts can also embrace geospatial and digital tools to make development assets future-proof in an era of more frequent and severe climate disasters.”

UNDP’s offer targeting community stabilisation includes clean up and management of debris – estimated at 4.8 million metric tonnes across affected areas – as well as recycling opportunities through cash-for-work programmes, ensuring income for jobless residents and easier access for national relief teams, Khoday explained.

Support will also target micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with grants and technical assistance to restore facilities, reconnect to markets and access sustainable finance such as loan guarantees and low-interest credit. UNDP will further assist with solar power, resilient re-roofing and other critical infrastructure.

Drawing on lessons from category five hurricanes in Dominica (2017) and The Bahamas (2021), UNDP plans to establish mobile and community-based Technical Assistance Centres to provide on-the-spot advice, alongside resilience grants to help communities adopt stronger rebuilding methods.

“These storms are no longer ‘once in a lifetime’. They are becoming the new baseline,” Jackson said. “Even countries that plan well are being tested by hurricanes more powerful, unpredictable and punishing than our systems were built for.”

An additional US$8 million in grant assistance is under consideration, through the realignment of resources from UNDP’s ongoing programmes in Jamaica. The funds would support climate-resilient recovery in tourism, ecosystem restoration and integrated land management in western Jamaica, as well as civil society organisations working to strengthen community resilience.

“Hurricane Melissa was the strongest climate-induced disaster to hit Jamaica in modern history,” Khoday said. “Supporting a resilience-based approach to recovery is not just smart. For Small Island Developing States, it is also a matter of justice, as countries face mounting loss and damage from the global climate emergency.”