THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Social Development and Crime Prevention Action Plan (SDCPAP) is arguably one of the most important regional initiatives for securing the livelihoods and well-being of Caribbean peoples – especially our youth – through the eradication and mitigation of violence. This is the word from Ms Myrna Bernard, Officer in Charge of the Human and Social Directorate of the Caribbean Community Secretariat, to the opening plenary of the CARICOM sub-regional meeting on youth gangs and violence, at the Grand Coastal Inn, Guyana, yesterday.

The Action Plan, to which Ms Bernard referred, was developed by the CARICOM Secretariat in tandem with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to “prevent and reduce levels of violence and crime in Member States, through a cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach…”

The meeting of critical stakeholders – drawn from four Member States – was organized by the CARICOM Secretariat, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Canada, to discuss plans to roll out the anti-gang programmes and services component of the Action Plan. This is in keeping with the decision to focus on youth violence in the first phase of implementation.

Ms Bernard provided a rationale for this decision by pointing to quantitative and qualitative research which exposed the serious development challenges posed by the high levels of crime and violence in the Caribbean Region. Those challenges, she opined, “seek to undermine all other social and economic gains which we might have achieved…”

According to Ms Bernard, the Caribbean Region has one of the highest levels of crime among youth worldwide and youth unemployment is also among the highest in the world. She cited several factors, which played a dominant role in fostering youth violence. Those include the increased incidence of narcotics trafficking throughout the region and the  use of youth as drug mules to facilitate its transshipment; secondary trading in guns as a result of the drug trade; socially maladjusted youths;  school drop-outs; poverty; social inequality; physical and sexual abuse; and anger.
A statement from the CARICOM Secretariat said she also pointed to the reported marginalisation of males and the punitive – rather than preventative – approach of the judicial systems to youth criminal activity as two other influencing factors.

Presenting compelling evidence drawn from recent studies, including the 2010 Report of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development, Ms Bernard illustrated the importance of spirituality, community cohesiveness and employment in addressing youth crime, gangs and violence, noting the significance of the Action Plan in mitigating youth violence. Young people, she explained, comprised 60 percent of the Region’s population and were best positioned to play a meaningful role in the development of the region, and in strengthening the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

“It is therefore imperative that we grasp the opportunity which this Action Plan presents to reduce violence among our youth by instituting at all levels, in an integrated manner, the five Pillars of the Plan,” she charged.

The five pillars to which Ms Bernard referred are: to reduce violence; foster social inclusion; promote integration; empower victims; and protect the environment and economic resources. They are inextricably linked with the regional development agenda.

The youth violence component of the Plan will provide intensive support services and programmes to reduce involvement in gang life and to equip ‘gang leavers’ with life skills to help them reintegrate into their societies.  The Pilot project will be rolled out in Belize, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.

As a result, the stakeholders, drawn from those countries, comprise leaders of faith-based organizations, private sector and government representatives – particularly personnel from the security and judiciary systems – and social and probation workers. They will craft regional and national responses to the ‘priority actionable areas’ under the Plan.

In concluding, Ms Bernard challenged the stakeholders to give their full participation to the process:

“As we seek to develop the tools, protocols and indicators for implementation of the Plan over the next four days, it is important to remember that the fight against youth violence and crime must be a concerted one. Success can only be achieved through the active and sustainable participation of all.”