Jamaicans in the Diaspora join forces for National Development

Introducing the Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network (JDTAN)

MIRAMAR – At the culmination of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development convened under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (SDG Summit) in New York City, Leo Gilling, the leader of the Jamaica Diaspora Education Task Force (JDTAN) observed a synergy between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the focus areas of the Jamaica Diaspora Task Forces.

Since the first Task Force was established six years ago in Education, Task Forces have organically expanded across several sectors, including Agriculture, Crime and Health. Until now, they have operated independently.

According to Leo Gilling: “It is time to rethink the current structure and to create a framework for more effective collaboration by forming an overarching Jamaican Diaspora Task Force Action Network focused not only Jamaica’s Vision 2030 goals but also the SDGs.”

On October 7th the JDTAN structure was finalized and Jamaicans across the globe were invited to join forces. In just over a week, 150 persons responded to the call eager to invest their intellectual capacity in the land of their birth in service to national and global development.

Volunteers self-organized around 15 sectorial areas, listed below and aligned to Jamaica’s Vision 2030 National Goals as well as the global SDGs.

The group hosted it’s kickoff virtual meeting and Taskforce leadership training on October 20th.

With only 10 + years to go, Jamaica and other countries across the world, will need to position itself for a sprint to year 2030, making every year count in achieving these ambitious goals to better humanity and our planet.

The Jamaican Diaspora Task Forces are a plug and play sectoral engagement model that allows the Diaspora to easily: mobilize, collaborate, identify needs, provide resources, empower, transform and build capacity. No project is too large or small to tackle.

Leo Gilling is of the view that “it is this ‘can do’, action-oriented spirit, mobilized in a flexible Task Force framework that will accelerate activities among members of the Diaspora towards achieving Jamaica’s Vision 2030 and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”

Members of the Diaspora are encouraged to join forces by signing up HERE.

The current list of

Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network (JDTAN) Task Forces and Leaders