UK in Jamaica » Kingston, Jamaica

PRISONS WITHOUT WALLS

A prison without walls.

In 2009,  under the  Rehabilitation and Reintegration Fund (RRF), the Migration team at the High Commission in Kingston, embarked on a plethora of initiatives, which were conceptualised with the purpose of improving the rehabilitation and reintegration of deportees and local offenders in Jamaica. Through the RRF, we have invested heavily in helping the Jamaican government improve conditions in lower risk institutions such as New Broughton and Diamond Crest. Whilst many of Jamaica’s prisons may be … Read more »PRISONS WITHOUT WALLS

Locate and Engage …

Vice Consul Simon Tucker greets a member of the alumni from the Bahamas as she enters the alumni event held there recently

Over the past few weeks, the British High Commission in Kingston Jamaica has done quite alot of work on Chevening Scholarships and with our Chevening Alumni. We are  in the very final stages of our 12 week “Chevening Alumni Location and Engagement Project“  for both Jamaica and the Bahamas, which saw us identifying, making contact with, and building a database for the over 180 alumni in Jamaica, and the 85 in the … Read more »Locate and Engage …

Women in the Foreign Office: Heather Cowley

Feature image for:  Women in the Foreign Office: Heather Cowley

In the lead up to International Women’s Day, we are featuring the stories of women who work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Meet Heather Cowley – she’s a Rapid Deployment Team and Cryptographic Support Officer who provides invaluable technical expertise to keep our FCO IT systems secure and enable our diplomats to keep in touch across the world. The Rapid Deployment Team have been to the region 10 times … Read more »Women in the Foreign Office: Heather Cowley

Coming Home to Jamaica

Just over a week ago the British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Mr Howard Drake, officially launched the Coming Home to Jamaica DVD at his residence. The DVD showcases the work financed and implemented by the British High Commission, in partnership with the Jamaican Government, to safely return, reintegrate and rehabilitate deportees returned from the UK. Jamaican nationals have traditionally constituted the largest number of foreign offenders incarcerated in UK prisons. … Read more »Coming Home to Jamaica

Steps to go GREEN

Jamaica may be facing a drought over the next few months – or at least lower than normal rainfall, and the British High Commission has started to prepare now, by taking steps to cut water consumption at its premises in Trafalgar Road. We are adjusting all the taps so that the flow of water will be reduced; we are also storing drinking water for use in a drought; and we … Read more »Steps to go GREEN

A few words for Human Rights

For 2013 Human Rights will continue to factor into most of my conversations. This realization is fueled in part by countless Jamaican news reports of children being murdered, or being made to work, or held in ramshackle prisons with adult offenders. Notwithstanding the moratorium, the death penalty remains on Jamaican law books. The high crime rate, extra judicial killings, and mounting case backlog, place a significant strain on a justice system, that … Read more »A few words for Human Rights

Personal Role Radios for the Jamaica Defence Force

Personal Role Radio

I attended the UK handover of over 100 sets of Personal Role Radio (PRR) to Jamaica’s Defence Force at a press event involving Jamaica’s Minister of National Security, The British High Commissioner and Jamaica’s Chief of Defence staff. The event took place at the British High Commissioner’s Residence, Trafalgar House.  The donation is the culmination of an 18 month procurement programme, which began with Jamaica’s Defence Force stating a requirement … Read more »Personal Role Radios for the Jamaica Defence Force

My Chevening Experience – Mark Reynolds

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My experience as a Chevening Scholar has been an amazing and life changing experience. My preparation to embark on my studies was filled with anticipation. The Chevening Secretariat supplies you with information that you will need to prepare yourself. This information proved to be very useful. The Chevening reception held in August 29, 2012 was also a good experience. We received information about our studies and forthcoming experience and also … Read more »My Chevening Experience – Mark Reynolds

Tars and Tarps

Feature image for:  Tars and Tarps

My job in the last week has involved discussions with ‘tars’ (or sailors) about ‘tarps’ (or tarpaulins). When posted to Singapore I had the opportunity to visit  a number of  other nations’ ships, which often stopped at the naval base for a few days. Last week in Kingston we had a short-notice visit from a British military ship, here for a very short stop-off. Thanks to the Jamaican Ministry of … Read more »Tars and Tarps