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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 The
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José
Miguel Insulza, highlighted the importance of providing young offenders a
path to reintegrate into their communities, in his address at the
launch of the Project “A New Path: Promoting a Healthy Environment and
Productive Alternatives for Juvenile Remandees and Offenders in
Jamaica,” held in Kingston at the Ministry of National Security
on Wednesday evening.
The
Project, implemented by the OAS and the Trust of the Americas, with
resources from the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), seeks to help young remandees and offenders to return to wider
society to play a productive role, either through returning to school or
entering the workplace.
Secretary General Insulza noted that the
problem facing young men and women being released from remand centers
in Jamaica is twofold: “First, youth whose cases have entered the
criminal justice system are often stigmatized by mainstream society and
cannot find legitimate employment as a consequence; and second, they are
reintegrating into a society whose youth unemployment rate is among the
highest in the region.”
The new project addresses these
challenges, said the OAS leader, by guiding and training young people
during confinement; giving them vocational, educational, technical and
entrepreneurship training; and working with local employers to ensure
their support. “The OAS with its affiliate, The Trust for the Americas,
firmly believes that promoting healthy emotional environments within the
correctional facilities and improving the chances for economic
independence after release will reduce crime and violence for youth,”
said Secretary General Insulza, who thanked the U.S. government for its
assistance to the project.
In his conclusion, the Secretary
General emphasized that “the Organization’s involvement also highlights
our desire to identify best practices and programs that can support
youth offenders and their reintegration into the communities. We hope
that these will offer lessons that the donor community and member states
can apply throughout the Caribbean and the Hemisphere.“
Other
participants in the ceremony included the Minister of National Security
of Jamaica, Peter Bunting; the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign
Trade, Arnold Nicholson; the Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in
Kingston, Elizabeth Lee Martinez; and the Mission Director for USAID
Jamaica, Denise Herbol.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
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