- GCIP’s first Rapid Response Targeted Offer provided expert advice on efficiently and sustainably improving road maintenance to the Office of the Prime Minister, Jamaica.
- The work was delivered by the Transport Research Laboratory and quickly mobilised by GCIP in collaboration with the World Bank.
- The success of the intervention has proved the concept of the Rapid Response Targeted Offer, potentially enabling further short-term tactical engagements in the future.
Jamaica’s road sector is a vital national asset, playing a crucial role in the country’s economy, trade, tourism and socio-economic fabric. However, it faces significant challenges to its effectiveness and resilience, including institutional fragmentation, chronic underinvestment, inefficient governance and management practices, and vulnerability to climate hazards.
In response to these barriers, the Green Cities and Infrastructure Programme (GCIP) teamed up with the World Bank to mobilise the Jamaica Road Asset Management Strategy intervention. Delivered by the Transport Research Laboratory, this work saw GCIP experts travel to Jamaica to successfully provide the Office of the Prime Minister with strategic advice on efficiently and sustainably improving road maintenance in the country.
The intervention was distinctive as it was GCIP’s first Rapid Response Targeted Offer. This new type of work takes GCIP’s well-established Targeted Offer (TO) – used to respond to specific and immediate needs pre-defined by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Posts – and tailors it for short, low-budget technical assistance. In this case, the intervention lasted only a month, considerably shorter than many of GCIP’s TOs.
The success of the Jamaica Road Asset Management Strategy has proved the concept of the GCIP Rapid Response Targeted Offer, opening the possibility for FCDO Posts to commission other short-term, low-budget technical assistance interventions. These may then create avenues for larger, follow-on work packages that have more sustainable and scalable impact.
The UK’s Green Cities and Infrastructure Programme is tackling climate change and extreme poverty by accelerating the delivery of sustainable green cities and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Published
09/04/25