MORE than two hundred and seventy (270) at-risk youths in the county of Berbice are set to receive skills training over the next nine months with the launching of the Berbice component of the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP)
The training seeks to empower at-risk youths between the ages of 16 and 25 years. The launch was held at the Rose Hall Community Centre in Canje, Berbice. The 45 trainees were selected from six communities respectively; Angoy’s Avenue, Adelphi/Mansfield, Rosignol, Albion/Fyrish, Rosehall/Port Mourant, Kildonan/Friendship.
The project is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank at a cost of US$15M. Component One seeks to reduce crime and violence at the community level. The project is intended to attract more than 900 youths from 20 communities in Regions One, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10, yearly. The youths will receive technical and vocational training, which will lead to the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) Level One certification or its equivalent, job readiness, entrepreneurship and business management training.
With the establishment of Community Action Councils, the programme also aims to provide psycho-social support through structured sessions to deal with mentoring and guidance, parenting and gender-based violence prevention, public awareness, conflict resolution, and interpersonal violence prevention at the community level. Additionally, the selected communities will be beneficiaries of millions of dollars to be invested in the creation of youth friendly infrastructural “rapid impact” projects and community resource mapping exercises.
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, during his feature address, told attendees that Government recognises the importance of skills and job-readiness training in creating economic opportunities for youths and lessening their vulnerability to the allure of crime. Further, Minister Ramjattan said, through the CSSP “We intend to break the vicious cycle of arrest, trial, and incarceration through rehabilitation and reintegration programmes in keeping with international best practices.”
The project, which is expected to last until 2020, also has two other components aimed at strengthening the crime prevention and investigative capacities of the Guyana Police Force and strengthening the Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Services of the Guyana Prison Service to prevent recidivism. It is being implemented by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU), of the Ministry of Public Security headed by Clement Henry and managed by IADB, through direct supervision. (DPI)