GENESIS Academy for children with disabilities has received a donation of art and craft and office supplies from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi Country Office (MCO) in Jamaica.

The donation is a signal of UNDP’s commitment to the resilience and inclusion of the school’s special needs students.

UNDP, which only recently adopted Genesis Academy, has been leading staff and partners on engagements with teachers and students and establishing lines of communication to support the pressing needs of the school since last year.

The handover on Wednesday marked UNDP’s first donation under the current partnership. It featured UNDP’s ceremonial addition to the school’s list of ‘Love Sponsors’ who donate in excess of $500,000.

The donation responds to special requests from teachers for supplies to create and enhance learning tools for their students and to strengthen operational efficiencies at the school.

UNDP Resident Representative Kishan Khoday expressed pride in the Genesis Academy partnership and lauded the school as an amazing institution that provides life-changing learning and life skills to children with disabilities through to 21 years of age.

“Today, as we mark the new year 2025 with UNDP’s donation of various equipment and tools to the academy, we join corporate citizens who have been supporting the needs of children with disabilities over the years and call for more strategic partnerships that will bolster the supply of learning tools and supplies to this vulnerable group,” said Khoday as he paid tribute to the teaching and administrative staff for their patience and dedication.

Khoday stated that UNDP would remain responsive to their requests.

In response, Genesis Principal Stacey-Ann Newman said, “We are so happy for the contribution from UNDP. We need these resources for our teachers and administrative office. Everything we asked for we got and we’re so grateful.”

She noted that classes would now be assigned printers to support the production of critical learning aids, thereby alleviating the strain on resources assigned to the administrative offices.

The UNDP Multi-Country Office in Jamaica currently implements a wide range of development interventions targeting marginalised and vulnerable populations, including youth and persons with disabilities under the Social Resilience and Inclusion portfolio of its 2022 to 2026 Country Programme.

UNDP’s other thematic priorities are citizen safety, security and rule of law; climate change resilience; and sustainable natural resource management.