Attachment_1._CBSI_Program__Fact_Sheet_2019.pdf

USAID.GOV/BARBADOS @USAIDESCARIBBEAN @USAIDESCARIB

EASTERN AND SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN

CARIBBEAN BASIN SECURITY INITIATIVE

SECTOR FACT SHEET

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

USAID is investing in a more evidence-based approach to reduce youth crime and violence with greater emphasis on community prevention programs and the improvement of juvenile justice systems.

CARICOM estimates that the “cost of gang-related crime is between 2.8% and 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the region due to the cost of policing and corrections, as well as lost income from incarcerated youth and reduced tourism demand.” Reducing crime and violence among youth is a high priority for citizens and governments in the region. Slow economic growth, rising unemployment, high public debt levels, weak external demand, and unfavorable terms of trade has resulted in high fiscal deficits, leaving social safety and basic services underfunded. At the same time, drug trafficking from South America has moved to Caribbean trade routes to reach US markets. CARICOM links the increasing flow of drugs through the region to the rise in violent crimes and high murder rates due to local gangs and availability of firearms and drugs.

One of USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean’s (ESC) three development objectives is to Reduce Youth Involvement in Crime and Violence in Target Communities in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.

USAID/ESC supports the third pillar of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI): the Promotion of Social Justice.

USAID.GOV/BARBADOS @USAIDESCARIBBEAN @USAIDESCARIB

ACTIVITIES

Community, Family, and Youth Resilience (CFYR) Program CFYR builds youth resilience and creates alternative pathways from crime for youth aged 10-29 from15 communities across three countries. CFYR uses the public health model for youth crime and violence prevention to define the local problem; target interventions to address risk and protective factors facing both communities and at-risk youth; and share results to foster evidence-based approaches to reduce crime and violence in the region. Interventions include family counselling; after school programs, and workforce development initiatives among other activities. CFYR builds service providers’ capacity to administer risk assessment tools and to deliver quality services that meet identified needs in collaboration with communities and families, and through partnerships with the government, police, and the private sector. CFYR is primarily implemented in Guyana, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, but also hosts annual events to highlight evidence-based approaches to youth crime and violence reduction in ten ESC countries. CFYR ends on September 30, 2020.

CariSECURE (Strengthening Evidence-Based Decision-Making) Project CariSECURE improves youth crime and violence policy-making and programming in the ESC region by using quality, comparable, and reliable national citizen security information. By 2020, target countries will use evidence-based decision making to develop policies, strategies and interventions. This will enable effective targeting of youth crime and violence risk factors and contribute to the reduction of youth involvement in crime and violence. The information generated will target decision makers including security services (e.g., police); social services (e.g., youth, education, probation, welfare); and the justice sector (e.g., magistrates). The data will be used by government, academics, and private sector researchers to inform policy, budgeting, and programming. CariSECURE is implemented in nine ESC countries with its initial focus on St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and Guyana. CariSECURE ends on September 30, 2020.

OECS Juvenile Justice Reform Project II (JJRP II) JJRP II strengthens juvenile justice systems to promote diversion, rehabilitation, and reintegration of youth in conflict with the law into society. JJRP II supports efforts to: (1) divert youth who commit minor offences away from the criminal justice system; (2) improve rehabilitation programs offered in detention centers; and (3) strengthen the reintegration services for youth leaving detention facilities.

JJRP II benefits youth aged 18 and below who are in conflict with the law (i.e., who have committed offences for which they could be prosecuted). JJRP II works with a wide range of stakeholders including various Government Ministries in each country, communities, NGOs, and the private sector to implement reform measures that result in more modernized systems of youth justice in the Caribbean region. JJRP II is implemented in Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. JJRP II ends on September 30, 2020.

Local Capacity for Local Solutions (LC4LS) Project LC4LS increases the capabilities and sustainability of youth and security-related NGOs in the ESC.

LC4LS provides NGO capacity development support through training, resources, technical support, access to accredited programs, and capacity development grants. Using innovative and non-traditional methods (such as peer to peer learning), NGOs enhance their networks, increase accountability to donors, and improve service delivery to the individuals and communities they serve. LC4LS is implemented in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, St.

Lucia, Suriname, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. LC4LS ends on November 30, 2020.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW