About us
Get to know UNICEF Jamaica
Country Programme 2022 to 2026
UNICEF’s mandate is to support the Government in meeting its commitment to fulfill the rights of Jamaican children – as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child – and in achieving national goals for development under Vision 2030.
UNICEF does this by working with a wide range of government and non-governmental partners to improve the quality and accessibility of essential services for children, the design of policies and laws intended to protect children’s rights, and the use of research and data that serves children.
Every five years, UNICEF and the Government of Jamaica enter a programme of cooperation based on a thorough situation analysis of the major issues affecting children and their families.
Focusing our attention on children in vulnerable situations, we have five priority areas in the Jamaica country programme document (2022 to 2026):
1. Child protection
2. Climate action and resilience
3. Education
4. Social policy
5. Survive and thrive
Everything we do is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Jamaica ratified in 1991. Informed by Vision 2030 Jamaica, our work contributes to the nation’s development priorities, which are also outlined in the:
• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the 2030 Agenda) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Regional goals of the United Nations Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework (UNMSDCF) and
• UNICEF Strategic Plan 2022-2025.
Meet our Country Representative
Olga Isaza is the Representative of UNICEF Jamaica. Her appointment became effective in February 2023.
She previously served as Acting Representative for UNICEF in Peru and Deputy Representative in Argentina and Peru. With 15 years of experience in UNICEF, Ms. Isaza has also worked as a Public Policy Specialist. Over the years she has developed extensive skills in formulating and executing social policies, programmes, and projects, which specially target children’s rights.
Ms. Isaza’s career has spanned the public, private and international cooperation sectors and includes her role as an Executive Director of the Bogota Department for Social Integration.
Ms. Isaza is a Social Psychologist and has a master’s degree in Public Policy from Los Andes University in Colombia.
Ms. Isaza is a national of Colombia.
Meet our National Ambassador
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the National Ambassador for UNICEF Jamaica
One of the nation’s most accomplished athletes and a passionate defender of children’s rights, Mrs. Fraser-Pryce was appointed the first national National Ambassador for UNICEF Jamaica in 2010.
In accepting the appointment, Mrs. Fraser-Pryce said, “Growing up, I had dreams that I thought were out of my reach, dreams of going to the Olympics and to University. Through my work with UNICEF, I want to help Jamaican children realize their dreams. I want to help them understand that they have rights and that those rights should be protected. I want them to believe that nothing is impossible.”
Known as the ‘Pocket Rocket’, she holds a degree in Child and Adolescent Development from the University of Technology (UTech), was awarded The Order of Distinction (OD), for outstanding and important services to Jamaica, and operates her own charitable foundation, the ‘Pocket Rocket Foundation’.
