20 groups of communities to benefit from crime reduction strategy

The Executing Unit (PEU) of the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP), Ministry of Public Security was granted permission from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to initiate activities under the Community Crime and Violence Prevention Component.

According to the Ministry, the approval was given as a result of the executing agency achieving the Special Executing Condition in Section 4.08 of the Loan Agreement, which reads: “The Borrower, through the Executing Agency, shall present, to the satisfaction of the Bank, prior to the initiation of any of the activities planned under Component 1 of the Project, evidence of the validation of the selected intervention communities and the update of the Project Results Matrix community-level indicators, in accordance with the 2012 Census data.”

The IDB has also approved 20 groups of communities for interventions under this component. The communities selected are located in Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10. The 20 selected communities are itemised in the table below:

The implementation of community-based preventive and restorative strategies is a core component of the CSSP.

It will be operated through a number of interrelated interventions including: (i) creation of community action councils; (ii) implementation of rapid impact projects, community-based social interventions, community violence prevention training; and (iii) facilitation of economic inclusion of youths, particularly at-risk youths, through vocational and remedial education, job readiness, job seeking and job placement services, entrepreneurship, mentoring, counselling and psychological skills training, and literacy programmes.

This component of the project aims to reduce crime and violence in target communities through: (i) strengthening the participation of residents, agencies, and businesses in community decision-making; (ii) building community leadership in violence prevention; (iii) promoting community cohesion; (iv) improving well-being and socio-economic conditions; (v) influencing the implementation of effective public policies that address risk factors associated with crime and violence; and (vi) promote recognition of the strengths and capacities of Guyanese communities and groups in preventing violence.

The identification of communities was based on a two -stage methodology. In the first stage, crime data at the community level for murder (2010, 2011 and 2013), domestic violence, robberies, breaking and entering and larceny (2011-2013) were used to identify 25 communities with the highest crime rates in Guyana.

The short-listed communities were then ranked in terms of suitability for CSSP intervention based on a range of additional criteria including the percent of youths and young adults, the percent of persons who have primary or lower education, the percent of persons who have no formal qualifications, the percent of unemployed persons, the population size within each community, and the ethnic composition of each community