Respect Jamaica - confronting discrimination

Respect Jamaica is an anti-discrimination programme, launched in 2014, aimed at promoting inclusion and equality for all Jamaicans, regardless of social identity and status.

The programme aims to tackle stigma and discrimination by raising public awareness of how both affect individuals and in turn cripple the development of our society.

They have mobilized and trained over 100 youths in social advocacy to improve public understanding of discrimination and human rights.

The Jamaican youth population forms a critical component of their anti-discrimination activities across Jamaica as they use their networks to highlight and challenge incidents of stigma and discrimination.

Since its inception in 2014, Respect Jamaica has signed 36 corporate partners to support the initiative.

The programme has garnered wide-scale social media following with monthly engagement averaging upwards of 60,000 and monthly reach averaging over 40,000.

Major successes of the Respect Jamaica campaign

Of all its achievements, the Respect Jamaica campaign raised its public profile and legitimacy within the youth space through two major projects.

Respect Youth Ambassadors have submitted weekly articles to one of the country’s premier newspapers, the Jamaica Gleaner.

The articles outline well-researched views of Jamaican youth on the state of education, democracy, and governance.

Each article presents challenges and solutions to these problems and afterwards, a meeting is scheduled with members of parliament on how these solutions could be actioned.

Additionally, the Respect Jamaica ambassadors have participated in a number of school tours to target their peers and engage in debates and conversations on how to encourage greater respect for all Jamaicans, not just among the youth.