| Working to reduce armed violence | | Print | |
| Thursday, 03 March 2011 12:25 | |||
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How to reduce armed violence in the Turks and Caicos Islands was the focus of a two-day workshop March 1-2 put on by the Women’s Development Group. Firearms offenses were up 68 percent in 2010, for a total of 123 for the year compared to 73 in 2009. In November the government took a serious no-tolerance approach to crime, introducing new laws requiring mandatory jail time for crimes involving guns. The affect of the new policies was seen quickly with a decrease in crime, said Advisory Council member Edith Cox, who gave remarks at the opening ceremony March 1. “Violence has no place in our society,” she said. “It threatens the peace and safety everyone is entitled to enjoy.” Rita Gardiner, organizer of the two-day workshop called Coalition for Development and Reduction of Armed Violence Capacity Building Training Programme, says the workshop is intended to give non-governmental organizations (NGOs) the knowledge necessary to empower their groups to help fight the criminals and take back the community. “We can’t wait for the government to do all the work,” Gardiner said. “We need people to take leadership roles and spread the message.” The workshop was held at the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources building on Providenciales. Gardiner arranged funding for the workshop that was shared 60 percent by the Canadian government and 40 percent by Project Ploughshares of Canada. “One thousand deaths per year constitute a war, and the levels of violence in many Caribbean countries well exceed this level,” explained Ploughshares representative Maribel Gonzales who attended the workshop. She manages the Building Peaceful Communities in the Caribbean project, a project to reduce armed violence in the Caribbean through research, training, raising public awareness, and policy reform. Representatives from more than a dozen government agencies and NGOs attended the training programme. The group was diverse, touching all areas of the community including teachers, social workers, police and pastors. All in attendance said they were excited to be a part of the important programme and hoped to learn ideas they can take back and share with their various groups to decrease armed violence in our communities. “We cannot wait until someone else makes a difference,” said Pastor Elva Swann. “We have to make a difference ourselves.” The programme was facilitated by Inspector of Police Irene Butterfield and Leo Selver.
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