The Public Defender Act was passed in Jamaica in 1999, coming into effect April 16, 2000, repealing the Ombudsman Act and replacing the Office of the Parlimentary Ombudsman with the Office of the Public Defender with additional jurisdiction to investigate circumstances where it is alleged that a person's Constitutional rights have been violated.

Reporting History before the UN Treaty Bodies

treaty	entry into force	most recent report examination	pending reports
CESCR	03-01-76	21-11-01, 29-11-01	3rd
CCPR	23-03-76	23, 24-10-97	3rd
CERD	04-07-71	14, 15-03-02	16th, 17th
CEDAW	18-11-84	26-01-01	5th, 6th
CRC	13-06-91	30-05-03	3rd, 4th

Treaty Body Recommendations Addressing Programme Areas

[The following are selected recommendations included in each Committee’s Concluding Observations to country reports. Selection is based on population issues addressed by UNFPA, and some recommendations may address more than one subject. The recommendations presented belong to the last report submitted, and may not reflect actions taken since towards their implementation.]

Population and Development

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Sixtieth session (4-22 March 2002). The Committee considered the eighth to fifteenth periodic reports of Jamaica, submitted as one document (CERD/C/383/Add.1), and it adopted the following concluding observations.

The Committee urges the State party to reconsider its position and to provide information in its next periodic report on the following issues: (a) the ethnic composition of the population, and in particular statistical data relating to the numerically small ethnic groups; (b) disagreggated data on the employment of different racial groups in government service in different sectors.

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Twenty-seventh session (12-30 November 2001). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the second periodic report of Jamaica (E/1990/6/Add.28) and adopted the following concluding observations.

The Committee recommends that the State party provide proper vocational training and education for men and women in order to enhance their employment opportunities, and formulate work creation strategies and policies aimed specifically at women in the labour force.
The Committee recommends that the State party strive for universal coverage of the social security system in Jamaica, giving priority to the disadvantaged and marginalized groups in society. In particular, the Committee strongly recommends the formulation and implementation of strategies to ensure adequate coverage for the population group eligible for retirement benefits.

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Twenty-fourth session
(15 January-2 February 2001). The Committee considered the combined second, third and fourth periodic reports of Jamaica (CEDAW/C/JAM/2-4) and adopted the following concluding observations.

The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on programmes and projects implemented to combat the negative impact of structural adjustment programmes on women and to ensure that the Government's policies to eradicate poverty are continuous and do not further marginalize women.

Committee on the Rights of the Child, Thirty-third session (May 2003). The Committee considered the second periodic report of Jamaica (CRC/C/70/Add.15), and adopted the following concluding observations.

The Committee encourages the State party to continue to strengthen this data collection system, inter alia with regard to important health indicators such as infant, under-5 and maternal mortality rates, ensuring the timeliness and reliability of both quantitative and qualitative data and using it in the formulation of policies and programmes for the effective implementation of the Convention.

The Committee requests that the Government provide in its next report more detailed data, statistics and information about all aspects of women in Jamaica and respond to the concerns expressed in the present concluding comments in its next periodic report submitted under article 18 of the Convention.

Reproductive Health

The Committee strongly requests the State party to provide information in its third periodic report on the situation of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica, the legislative and administrative measures taken by the State party to address the multiple dimensions of the epidemic - prevention programmes, access to medicines, treatment and care, as well as measures to protect the population from the disease - and on the results of such measures.
The Committee urges the State party to ensure the provision of education on sexual and reproductive health, and to facilitate access to contraceptives by adolescents where appropriate. The Committee recommends the establishment of benchmarks in this respect, on the basis of comparative data to be discussed in the next periodic report, and refers the State party to paragraphs 57 and 58 of its general comment No. 14 on the right to health.

The Committee requests the State party in its next periodic report to provide detailed information based on comparative data about the problem of abortion in Jamaica and the measures, legislative or otherwise, including the review of its present legislation, it has undertaken to protect women from clandestine and unsafe abortion.
The Committee calls upon the State party to improve its family planning and reproductive health policy and programmes, including availability and accessibility to affordable modern contraceptive means for both women and men. It encourages the Government to promote educational programmes on reproductive rights and responsible sexual behaviour for both women and men, particularly young people.

The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Increase its efforts to promote adolescent health, including mental health, policies, particularly with respect to reproductive health, substance abuse and health education in schools, ensuring the full participation of adolescents;
(b) Consider means of reducing teenage pregnancy, including by strengthening reproductive health education and education in family planning for adolescents as well as campaigns and education programmes to change attitudes towards fertility and sexuality, and ensure the provision of full health and counselling support for pregnant girls and that these girls are able to continue their formal education.
The Committee recommends that the State party further integrate respect for the rights of the child into the development and implementation of its HIV/AIDS policies and strategies on behalf of children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as their families, including by taking into consideration the recommendations the Committee adopted at its day of general discussion on children living in a world with HIV/AIDS (CRC/C/80, para. 243), and involve children when implementing this strategy.

Promoting Gender Equality

The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to amend section 24 (3) of chapter III of the Constitution to include constitutional prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex. The Committee further recommends that the State party consider amending the Acts enumerated in paragraph 8 above and other legal measures that are discriminatory to men as well as women.
The Committee urges the State party to implement without further delay the National Policy Action Statement on Women, which was accepted by Cabinet in 1987 with a view to providing the means to mainstream gender into all government ministries and their policies. The Committee requests the State party to include information in its third periodic report on progress made under the National Policy Action Statement on Women.

The Committee recommends that the Constitution be amended to allow women to have access to constitutional remedies of redress. The Committee urges the Government to make the necessary legislative reforms to the Constitution in order to create an appropriate legal framework that would ensure that the law is consistent with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee urges the Government to reform existing legislation and to create new legislation to protect the equal rights of women and men in regard to labour, social, family and property.
The Committee calls upon the State party to revise the Maternity Leave with Pay Act 1979 so as to ensure that, in accordance with international standards, all mothers receive leave with pay. It also calls upon the State party to review the Maternity Leave with Pay Act and the National Insurance Scheme with a view to removing any disparity as regards the eligibility of domestic workers and other female workers to benefits.
The Committee urges the Government to implement awareness-raising campaigns to change stereotypical and discriminatory attitudes concerning the roles of women and girls.
The Committee urges the Government to implement the full range of temporary special measures aimed at increasing the number of women in decision-making at all levels, as well as in the public and private sectors. It recommends that the Government sensitize the social partners about the importance of these measures.
The Committee urges the Government to introduce gender mainstreaming measures in all governmental ministries, institutions and departments, and notes that the responsibility should not fall exclusively under the purview of the Bureau of Women's Affairs. The Committee recommends that the Bureau of Women's Affairs should have the role of monitoring gender mainstreaming in all governmental activities. The Committee requests that further information on the gender monitoring checklist be provided in the next report.
The Committee expresses its concern about the persistence of gender-based violence and domestic violence, including marital rape. The Committee also expresses its concern about the high incidence of incest and rape, and the lack of a holistic governmental strategy to identify and eradicate gender-based violence.
The Committee urges the Government to place a high priority on measures to address violence against women in the family and in society, in accordance with general recommendation 19 of the Committee and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Committee recommends that the Government raise public awareness about violence against women and urges the Government to strengthen its activities and programmes to focus on sexual violence, sexual crimes, incest and prostitution, especially prostitution associated with tourism. The Committee urges the Government to ratify the Inter-American Convention for the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women in order to strengthen the Government's programmes in that area.

Treaty Body Recommendations Addressing Population Groups

[The following are selected recommendations included in each Committee’s Concluding Observations to country reports. Selection is based on population groups relevant to UNFPA's mandate, and some recommendations may address more than one subject. The recommendations presented belong to the last report submitted, and may not reflect actions taken since towards their implementation.]

Adolescents and Youth

The Committee recommends that the State party undertake urgently legislative and administrative measures to prohibit and penalize sex tourism and the exploitation of women and children in this regard.

The Committee calls upon the State party to improve its family planning and reproductive health policy and programmes, including availability and accessibility to affordable modern contraceptive means for both women and men. It encourages the Government to promote educational programmes on reproductive rights and responsible sexual behaviour for both women and men, particularly young people.

The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Increase its efforts to promote adolescent health, including mental health, policies, particularly with respect to reproductive health, substance abuse and health education in schools, ensuring the full participation of adolescents;
(b) Consider means of reducing teenage pregnancy, including by strengthening reproductive health education and education in family planning for adolescents as well as campaigns and education programmes to change attitudes towards fertility and sexuality, and ensure the provision of full health and counselling support for pregnant girls and that these girls are able to continue their formal education.
The Committee recommends that the State party further integrate respect for the rights of the child into the development and implementation of its HIV/AIDS policies and strategies on behalf of children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as their families, including by taking into consideration the recommendations the Committee adopted at its day of general discussion on children living in a world with HIV/AIDS (CRC/C/80, para. 243), and involve children when implementing this strategy.

Persons with Disabilities

The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Conduct a survey to identify the number of children with disabilities, including children in government children’s homes, as well as causes of and ways to prevent disability;
(b) In the light of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (General Assembly resolution 48/96) and the Committee’s recommendations adopted at its day of general discussion on the rights of children with disabilities (CRC/C/69, paras. 310-339), further encourage the integration of children with disabilities into the regular educational system and their inclusion into society, inter alia by giving more attention to special training for teachers and making the physical environment, including schools, sports and leisure facilities and all other public areas, accessible for children with disabilities;
(c) Establish a national system for early detection, referral and intervention including both increased government provisions via public institutions, and community-based as well as NGO interventions;
(d) Seek further technical assistance and cooperation for the creation of more effective specialized institutions, including day-care centres, and for the training of children with disabilities, their parents and professional staff working with and for children with disabilities.