Project description
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High rates of crime and violence in the Caribbean are undermining growth, threatening human welfare, impeding social development and thus undermining the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Beyond the direct effect on victims, crime and violence inflict widespread costs, generating a climate of fear for all citizens and diminishing economic growth. According to a 2007 joint World Bank and UNODC report ‘Crime, Violence and Development : Trends, costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean,’ murder rates in the Caribbean are higher than in any other region of the world, and assault rates are significantly above the world average. Murder rates in the Caribbean—at 30 per 100,000 population annually—are higher than for any other region of the world and have risen in recent years for many of the region’s countries. Assault rates, at least based on assaults reported to police, are also significantly above the world average. These reported rates are highly sensitive to the level of trust in the local police in general and the willingness to report domestic violence, in particular. Deaths and injuries from youth violence constitute a major threat to social and economic progress across the Caribbean. Youth are disproportionately represented in the ranks of both victims and perpetrators of crime and violence. Youth violence is a particularly serious problem in the region, and youth homicide rates in several countries of the region are significantly above the world average. Violence against women affects a significant percentage of women and girls in the Caribbean. One regional victimization survey revealed that 48 percent of adolescent girls’ sexual initiation was “forced” or “somewhat forced” in nine Caribbean countries (Halcon et al., 2003). According to the latest available data from the UNODC’s Crime Trends Survey (CTS), which is based on police statistics, three of the top ten recorded rape rates in the world occur in the Caribbean. All countries in the Caribbean for which comparable data are available (Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago) experienced a rate of rape above the unweighted average of the 102 countries in the CTS. |
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Location: Caribbean countries |
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Branch: |
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Partner: UN-HABITAT in collaboration with CARICOM and the Inter-American Coalition on the Prevention of Violence (IACPV),Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago, |
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Themes: |
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Budget: USD 625,000 |
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Received/Pledged: |
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Focus Area(s)
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Background
Many of the crime and violence issues facing the Caribbean transcend national boundaries and require a coordinated regional response among the Caribbean governments hence the establishment of a Caribbean Implementing and Coordinating Mechanism – CARICOM IMPACS. CARICOM has undertaken several important steps to deal with emerging regional security issues. Perhaps the most important regional initiative in the area of crime and violence reduction was the Regional Task Force on Crime and Security (RTFCS). The Task Force identified the following principal security threats to the region: illegal drugs, illegal firearms, corruption, rising crime against persons and property, criminal deportees, growing lawlessness, poverty and inequity, and terrorism. The Task Force presented its report to a meeting of Heads of Government in July 2002 and the recommendations of the Task Force were endorsed by this meeting. Caribbean heads of government endorsed a new Management Framework for Crime and Security in July 2005. This framework establishes a Council of Ministers responsible for security and law enforcement, a Policy Advisory Committee, and an Implementation Agency to implement CARICOM policy initiatives in this area. Its strategy on crime and security to-date has shown an over-reliance on the criminal justice system to reduce crime in the region. However, with several countries in the region increasingly investing in crime prevention – using approaches such as integrated citizen security programs, crime prevention through environmental design, and a public health approach that focuses on risk factors for violent behaviours, CARICOM is increasingly faced with the demand to develop a coordinated and comprehensive strategy to encompass a holistic approach to urban safety and social cohesion.
Objectives
To enhance the capacity of urban local governments, national governments and key stakeholders to be better equipped to deliver urban safety and social cohesion in particular for the most vulnerable groups in the Caribbean region.
Target Group
Vulnerable groups in the Caribbean
