THE Goal for Violence Prevention is simple: to stop violence from happening in the first place.
Many editions of this column have focused on violence prevention, as embarked upon by the Citizen Security Programme. It is an approach which is a scientifically tested and proven method of addressing the issue of crime and violence.   Violence is described as the use of physical force to injure people or property. It may cause death or physical pain to those who experience it directly, as well as emotional distress to those who either experience or witness it.
Individuals, families, schools, workplaces, communities, societies, and the environment are all harmed by violence. It is a phenomenon present in almost every society.
In Guyana, we see evidence of violence on a daily basis, quite often with deadly consequences. It is, however, one of the few countries in the low- and middle-income grouping that have a system to routinely address it and deal with its life-long and far-reaching consequences.
While it is recognized that there are interventions by several NGOs, agencies and government departments, among those that stand out are the programmes by the Community Action Component of the Citizen Security Programme. The strategy adopted hinges on creating awareness on the issues.
Driven by the Ministry of Home Affairs and strongly supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, the programmes focused on the softer approach of dealing with crime and violence in ten low-income and disadvantaged communities.
While the law enforcement agencies can do so much in addressing crime and violence, the convention now is that the community itself must play a great role in ensuring its safety and security.
What the CSP CAC has done in a two-year period is to empower, through skills training programmes, hundreds of youths to become entrepreneurs or be employed.
It did not stop there. These very youths along with hundreds of adults in these communities were part of a multi-disciplinary scheme of creating safe neighbourhoods. Given the nature of such communities, an integral component of the scheme has been violence-prevention. Professionals were hired to work with the youths and adults in child abuse, youth, and domestic/ intimate partner violence prevention, and in personal development. It also involved training trainers to continue after the CSP would have formally ended.
This column wishes to recognize one group of residents who have seen the need to continue addressing one of the issues that are of serious bother to them. At Lusignan, there is the Action and Justice Against Gender Abuse. This is a group of committed men and women, guided and mentored by their former consultant, Grace Roberts, who have declared war on domestic violence and, in the process, child abuse.
The group meets on a weekly basis, and has embarked on regular outreach programmes. What is heartening also is that they are supported by persons from other communities’ professional social workers, and are encouraged by CSP officials despite the formal ending of the CSP CAC. At the same time, they are attracting more and more support from the community itself. They are best suited to intervene as they have first-hand knowledge of the issues and the persons who are involved.
In the other communities, there are similar attempts at sustaining the programme. They can draw inspiration and motivation from the Lusignan group, which is reporting significant success in its efforts. They have recognized, in their own way, the benefits of a safe neighbourhood.   
It is the hope that what is happening at Lusignan can be replicated in the other nine communities, especially since the platform was laid by the Citizen Security Programme Community Action Component.