Commissioner of Police attends four-day sub-regional meeting in Guyana

Commissioner of Police Mr. C. G. Walwyn (Photo by Erasmus Williams)

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 5TH 2011 (CUOPM) – Commissioner of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, Mr. C.G. Walwyn is in Guyana.Mr. Walwyn is among participants from Belize, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago attending the first four-day sub-regional meeting.

Gangs and gang violence among CARICOM youth is one of the priority issues to be addressed in a CARICOM Crime Prevention and Social Development Action Plan (CCPSD), which is being implemented on a phased basis.

The plan was jointly developed by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to address the development challenges posed by the high levels of crime and violence in the Region.

The CARICOM Secretariat, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in addressing the priority of gangs and gang violence, has organized a series of sub-regional consultations titled Youth Gangs and Violence: partnering for prevention and social development to discuss plans to roll out the anti-gang programmes and services component of the Action Plan.

This component is designed to 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 programmes and services, to be developed in consultation with stakeholders, will be implemented through pilot projects at the community level.

The stakeholders comprise leaders of faith-based organizations, private sector and government representatives – particularly personnel from the judiciary system – and social and probation workers of the Member States as critical partners in the fight eliminate gangs and gang violence within the Community.