 Honorable Dr. Kenny Anthony from a Prime Minister of St. Lucia and the current parliamentary representative for View Fort South. Mrs. Paul Termel-John, the honorary council of Canada in St. Lucia. Ms. Risa Joseph, Executive Director of the Folk Research Centre. Acting Commissioner of Police Ronald Phillip. Dr. Madri Jameson-Charles, Principal of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and our keynote speaker. Superintendent of Police Albert Shallery with responsibility for the Southern Division of Police. Other members of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force. Ms. Monty Lewis, the Press Secretary to our Prime Minister. Honorable Phillip JPM. Members of the Board of Directors of Race, Your Voice, St. Lucia Inc. and staff members. Community leaders, residents of View Fort and environment are footballers. Members of the media and our students from the University of Birmingham UK who are currently hosting a legal aid and mental health clinic in collaboration with Race, Your Voice and Lucia Inc. Everyone, welcome. My name is Eleanor Joseph Sprott. And for the next hour or so, I will assist you as your guide through this program. Today we are here at the Phillip Masler Ground in View Fort as we do a project launch for psychosocial support and resources for women and girls, boys and men from the man and girls. And Bruceville to overcome challenges to welcome you. I now invite President and co-founder of Race, Your Voice, St. Lucia, Ms. Catherine Sillies. Let's put our hands together for her. Good afternoon everybody. And I would like to observe the protocols that has already been set. I want to take a moment to remember Dr. Henry Charles. The two of us sat down at Rituals Coffee House and put this project together because both of us were concerned about the future of young people in the man and Bruceville. So we put the project together. He was supposed to be here to do the keynote speaker. But we all know that we make plans, but the universe decides otherwise. So his wife, Dr. Marjorie Jameson Charles has offered to do the honors and do the keynote speaker. So today we gather here with a sense of profound purpose and shared determination. We stand united to address the critical issues that has deeply affected viewfort. The devastating impact of gun violence on the well-being and mental health of our citizens here in the South. We had the opportunity to serve people in the South during this crisis. And we have gotten to know some of them quite well. And we believe that with help we can all come out of this situation better. I present to you a project that aims to provide much needed support to those two communities. As we come together, we recognize the immense challenges that these communities have faced and the profound trauma that has resulted. This project is funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives CFLI. And we want to express our profound gratitude to the government and people of Canada for their generosity. The projects include a community assessment so that the community can tell us what they need, what they want, and how they want things done on their behalf. For very often, we continue to give people what we think they need and not what they actually want. A stakeholder engagement because we want to understand the concerns and the contributions and the responsibilities of the business community in viewfort and how do we support everybody in order to make this community what we know. A public education and awareness campaign based on the information out of the community assessment, the community will tell us what do we want to do and how we want to do it. A skills building and empowerment component for young people in the two communities from age 15 to 35 to learn a skill and to get the opportunity to open a small business or get a job. Psychological support for residents who request it and monitoring and evaluation of the current situation to understand what is best. So I was born in viewfort. I was born in Peru in viewfort and people tend to forget that because I've lived in castries for a long time. I was born at St. Jude's in Peru. I was raised behind the Catholic Church in viewfort. I attended the Belvedere infant school, the girls primary school, the viewfort junior secondary school up the road. So I am from viewfort. So before we say that castries people want to tell them what to do, I want to claim myself. I am from viewfort. So in the face of adversity, it is essential that we extend the helping hand to those who have suffered so deeply. Our project seeks to create a supportive and healing environment where the members of those communities can find resilience and hope. The core objectives of this project works towards rehabilitating the lives of those affected. We can sit here and say from our experiences in interacting with viewfort people that they have been deeply affected. They are not comfortable in their community and we want to contribute for people feeling safe and comfortable in their communities and they do not feel that any time they may come for me. Through collaborative efforts and community engagement, we endeavour to foster a safe space for open dialogue and meaningful connections where individuals can share their experiences, fears and aspirations without judgment. Our team of dedicated professionals and volunteers will be at the forefront of this effort, ensuring that the support services are accessible, culturally sensitive and tailored to the unique needs of each individual. We have a policy at Radio Voice St. Lucia where we always ask people, what do you want me to do for you? And sometimes it takes a little bit of time for the person to realise just what I need, but we always believe allowing people to say what they need is very important and contributes to the success of any endeavour taken on their behalf. It is crucial to understand that the scars of gun violence run deep and can often remain hidden behind facades. Therefore, we will focus on raising awareness about mental health and destigmatising those seeking help. We will empower the community members to recognise signs of distress in themselves and the loved ones and encourage them to seek the support they need without hesitation. This project is not merely about addressing the aftermath of a strategy, but about building a stronger, more resilient community that stands together in solidarity. As we embark on this journey, we look to promote healing, compassion and understanding. We will work to restore a sense of safety and trust within the communities, thereby fostering an environment conducive to growth and positive change. However, it is crucial to recognise that this endeavour requires the collective effort of each and every one of us. We call upon local organisation, government bodies, community leaders and individuals to join hands and contribute to their unique expertise, resources and time to discourse. Together, we have the power to make a significant impact and uplift the lives of those who have suffered immeasurably. Our commitment to this project will shape the future of those communities and pave the way for a brighter future. In closing, let me remember that by supporting each through adversity, we demonstrate the strength of our collective humanity. The road ahead may be challenging, but with unravering determination and the power of unity, we shall all succeed over the shadows of gun violence and together we shall forge a path towards healing, hope and renewal. For the community members, specifically for the young people within those communities, as we always say they are our future. We have to work towards their being our future and the life to be the future that we always speak about. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Sillies. It is indeed heartening to head the overall objective of this project to bring healing, to bring hope, renewal in this beautiful community called Viewfort. Like Miss Sillies, I am from Viewfort also, not from the Viewfort town, but I am also from Pierrot, right up there in the hills of Viewfort North. And Viewfort is the town that I come to for almost all my commercial services. And it is a beautiful place, just a little scarred right now. And I know that there is a lot of hope because if we just look to the back of the tent, we see our young men standing in their white shirts. That is our future. That's the hope. And these are the individuals that we work in with and for. I like the idea that this project is not one where we come to bring them a program, but rather where we seek to sit with the community and find the needs. And therefore, tailor projects and programs that are needed and wanted. So there is buying and ownership from the members of the community. And we can see Viewfort rise again. I now pause once more as we welcome to give opening remarks. Mrs. Paul Turmel John from the High Commission of Canada. Welcome. Thank you. Good morning. First of all, I would like to apologize. I'm sitting down because the back is not following today. So thank you for your understanding. I would like to adopt the protocol as already established. So good morning to everybody. It is my pleasure to be here with all of you to offer remarks on behalf of the Government of Canada. I Commissioner Her Excellency Lillian Chatterjee sends warm regards and greetings and regrets that she's unable to be here today to officially launch Raise Your Voices New Project supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, or CFLI as it is commonly known, is a unique funding mechanism with relatively With relatively modest support, local partners carry out innovative and impactful projects that are responsive to their community needs. CFLI is much more than simply providing financial contributions. It is a partnership between Canada and local stakeholders to advance our shared priorities to make our societies more peaceful and prosperous. While the Canada Fund is open to a wide range of eligible beneficiaries, including government agencies, academic institutions and some international organizations, the vast majority of CFLI projects are implemented by local civil society organizations like Raise Your Voice. Canada is committed to building its partnerships with local civil society organizations in St. Lucia and across the eastern Caribbean. Why? Because our government firmly believes that civil society organizations are instrumental to promoting diversity and inclusion, defending human rights and holding governments accountable to their citizens. CSO, or civil society organizations, often work directly with communities. They understand their challenges and they are uniquely positioned to respond. Raise Your Voice is known in St. Lucia and throughout the wider region as a leading advocate for women, children and other marginalized groups who have experienced gender-based violence. A respected organization and a trusted partner, Canada's relationship with Raise Your Voice dates back to 2017 when they received their first CFLI contribution to carry out a public education campaign on gender-based violence and to advocate for legislative reform during the 16 days of activism. In the years since, our partnership has grown to include an additional CFLI project in 2020 to respond to the urgent needs of gender-based violence survivors at the height of COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Raise Your Voice was one of three St. Lucia organizations that participated in the Canada-funded women's voice and leadership Caribbean program, an initiative which invests in the power of local women's rights and LGBTQI plus organizations to advance their own agenda across critical themes. Throughout this project, Raise Your Voice received funding to deliver critical support services to clients, to upgrade a counseling room for the vulnerable person unit of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force, to outfit an office for their operation and to advocate for the enactment of St. Lucia's Domestic Violence Bill. Canada is exceptionally proud that our support over the years to Raise Your Voice contributed in part to the passage of the Landmark Domestic Violence Act. This statute was the result of a tireless advocacy from activists and organizations such as Raise Your Voice and serves as a model to the rest of the Caribbean on inclusion legislation. Today, we continue our support to Raise Your Voice demonstrating Canada's steadfast commitments to St. Lucia and its people. Violent crime, including gun violence, is under rise, particularly in your thoughts. Canada firmly believes that peace and prosperity are everyone's birthrights. The primary aim of the project entitled psychological support and resources for women and girls, boys and men from communities in your thoughts to overcome challenges, is to assess the effect of this uptick in crime on a cross-section of vulnerable St. Lucia and to assist with mitigating its impact on the community at large. The project is grounded on an inclusive approach to peace-building by engaging diverse segments of the population. When addressing security challenges, society benefits from a comprehensive and inclusive approach. Inclusion is a path to peace and prosperity. This small-scale advocacy project complements other security-focused support Canada is providing to St. Lucia to the regional security system, as well as our anti-crime capacity-building program to prevent and respond to threats caused by transnational criminal activity. Through its wide-ranging international assistance programming, Canada also partners with St. Lucia in its efforts to strengthen economic and climate resilience, while advancing inclusive governance and gender equality. Canada commands to raise your voice for your continuous and compassionate advocacy on preventing gender-based violence and your responsiveness to re-emerging challenges such as increased gun violence. Canada is proud to support local organizations in their efforts to build stronger and more resilient communities, thereby contributing towards a safer and more prosperous world for all of us. I wish all project partners, volunteers, participants and stakeholders success over the next eight months. We look forward to the positive outcomes. We thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Termel-John, for giving us some more insight as to why this project is so important. We can never stress how much partnership is important in community development and nation-building. We are certainly pleased that your government chooses to partner with us here in St. Lucia. And so we thank the people of Canada and we thank the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives for being partners with Raise Your Voice St. Lucia Inc. We can never stress enough how much inclusion is important to us as a people. And as a small community, viewfought, sometimes with what happens within and around us, we may feel excluded. We may feel that we are segregated. We may feel stigmatized. But one of the aims of this program is to allow viewfought to be safer, to be more productive and therefore to be part of the general development of St. Lucia as a developing state. Again, we thank you and we thank your government for your contribution towards community and nation-building. We now welcome to the lecture the Parliamentary Representative of Viewfought South, Honorable Dr. Kenny Anthony, who will speak with us briefly on the urgency and importance of addressing gun violence in the communities of the man and Brucefield, Herring Viewfought, Dr. Anthony. Thank you very much, Chairperson. May I first of all extend a warm welcome to all our distinguished visitors and presenters. And I extend an even warmer welcome to all my constituents who are here today. You are the most important persons in this audience. But I think you will also forgive me if I extend a very special welcome to the students from the University of Birmingham who are here. Birmingham is where I did my PhD so I have a very special relationship with the University of Birmingham. And I had the opportunity to meet some students from Birmingham University. I think it was sometime last year on their tour of duty. So welcome to Solution. I hope you enjoy your stay with us and in particular your engagement with the individuals in my constituency, all without my knowledge. So a very special welcome, a very special welcome to you. I particularly like the fact that this project is inclusive. That it seeks to reach the women of our community, the men of our community, the girls and the boys. I particularly like that about this project. But you know, I am known for being disobedient. And I'm not necessarily going to stick to that text. I want to say a few words about the mothers in our community. I want to speak about their pain and their hurt. And if you want another way of putting it. I want to speak about the pain, the cries and the tears and then go beyond that in a few minutes. I am happy that we have the young men with us and young ladies, the footballers of your fort. Because some of the things I want to say about mothers will also touch them. Though in a very tangential way because time is an issue. I believe you know it's not a myth in St. Lucia. That when you curse the mother of a young man, he reacts almost violently. Apparently you have the freedom to curse the father. You can even curse a man's wife, but never curse the mother. The young man then reacts aggressively and often promises violence in return because for him this is an affront. It's a breach of his code of honor and the peculiar and special relationship that he has with his mother. It is part of the psyche, part of our tradition, part of our culture and not often spoken about, but it is very evident. So you can say anything about a young man's mother, but don't trespass and don't curse her. I don't know if it has to do with the rather colorful curses which we have inherited from the French. And as you know these curses are usually most colorful and effective if delivered in Creole. I will not take the risk today of repeating the curses to you. Although having grown up in the south of the island, I know those curses only too well. But it seems to me that the reverence that the young men and women have for their parents, for their mothers in particular, somehow does not always translate into other things. And this is where perhaps I want to touch them a little bit by talking about some of the issues that we face. No doubt, we suffer more intense pain when our mothers are affected. And I suspect you probably will say it is biological because of this unique umbilical connection between mother and child. I think it's very real. And for me, without confessing too much, when my own mother died, it was very difficult and traumatic even though she lived a life of 94 years. But it was very painful. And I remember I had to do the eulogy at her funeral. And I always pity those who have to deliver eulogies for one parent or the other, especially a mother, because of the deep cord that resonates. You have to pull from your very being and your soul to be able to speak and say what you'd like to say. So a lot of it is umbilical to a very large extent. But then whether or not there is an umbilical connection, the special relationship between child and mother is very, very real. And I want to share with you what I've picked up over the years as a political practitioner and someone representing a constituency for over 25 years. In my experience, it is always the mothers who come to my office for assistance of one kind or another. Almost invariably, it's the mothers who are coming to look for jobs. Almost invariably, it is the mothers who are coming on behalf of their children, particularly to the young men like you see behind us there, asking for jobs for them. Almost invariably, it is rare that a father will turn up in my office and say, my son or daughter is unemployed and I would be happy if you can assist me to get a job. Or can you help with the education of that child? Very, very, very rare. Doesn't happen. I have difficulty sometimes because when the mothers show up on behalf of their sons in particular, I quarrel with them. I say, why are you coming to speak to me and not your son? Why is it that it is not your son who is asking for a job or who is asking for help to complete education? And I say to them, you are doing a disservice to your son. If you want me to help send them, I want to talk to them. And the reason I do this is to say to the mothers, you have to build confidence in your own children. They have to learn to take responsibility for themselves. They can't continue to be dependent on their mothers all the time. But you know it betrays something deeper in our society. The lack of confidence among our young men to handle their affairs and to handle their business. It also signals a breakdown in the relationship that it is the mothers who are constantly exerting the pressures on the children to do what is right, to do what is good, to do what is necessary. And quite often they're not reacting. And so this is a wonderful opportunity that we have to speak to all the actors, all who are involved in shaping our communities. And that's why for example, I welcome the fact that we are going to touch the lives of just not just mothers and fathers, but also their children. And I'm saying to the young men who are in this crowd today, some of them who are standing in that tent over there, they have to learn to stand on their own two feet and stop burdening their mothers with their problems. And they have to learn to handle their problems on their own. If you want to football boots or football pants, don't send your mother to me to ask for football boots or football pants. You come on your own and argue your case, learn to develop your skills and to build your confidence. That is my point. But you know who have suffered most in the carnage that afflicted our community in the past few months? It's the mothers. And there are moments when I wonder whether these young men who engage in these criminal activities, who take down the lives of others, understand the human tragedy that is involved. What it means to a mother to have a son murdered or what it means to a mother to have a partner murdered or what it means to a mother to have a son incarcerated because of a criminal act. And what's the responsibility? Mothers are torn to protect their children instinctively. The tragedy is that few of them are going to summon the courage to admit their children committed wrong. Rather, what they would seek to do is to put a cloak around the children, sanitize them as if all pretending as if there could not be that son or individual who inflicted pain. And I have spoken time and time again of the impact of this on a small community like ours. You've got a small population of about 9,000 to 10,000 voters. And can you imagine Clark Street walking down Clark Street, watching the faces and you are passing next to the young man or to the mother of the young man whom you suspected pulled that trigger and killed your son or killed a relative. How do you cope with all of this? How do you manage all of this in a small community like ours? How do you cope with this kind of tragedy? How do you respond to all of this? Yes, we speak of forgiveness. Forgiveness does have a place. We can't be burdened constantly by the wish and the desire to inflict revenge and to inflict pain. But does it mean that those who commit those acts, even if we are prepared to forgive, should be allowed to roam free again and not atone for what they have done? Does it mean that? Is it a difficult question that we face? I can tell you, law enforcement may not know who pulled the trigger or who killed who, may not know, but the chances are that the community knows exactly who did it and when they did it. And that's a different kettle of fish, whether those individuals can ever, ever feel the confidence to speak to law enforcement. That is so complex an issue. I'll probably spend an hour talking to you about it, which I have no interest in doing at this time. But you know what? We have made progress. In the last few weeks, we have made progress. And you have heard all about the progress. But in the progress we have made, even if we have had a setback last week when one young man was brought down again by violence, the persons who perhaps have been most constructive in this have been the mothers of the community. Because the groups that have intervened have spoken largely to the mothers to persuade them to learn to forgive, to speak about the pain they have had to be able to reach out and touch another family whom they know harbored and assailant who committed one of those crimes. And so I want to give thanks and praise to the mothers in Buford who have played such a very constructive role in the last few weeks to deal with the issues which we have had in the community. Without their cooperation, we would not have made the progress that we have. But I want to share an experience with you and to emphasize the significance of the role of mothers. Some of you in this audience will know that I am working along with two other ex-prime ministers to see if you can bring peace to Haiti. Because Haiti is almost ungovernable these days, torn by violence and wracked by violence. Gangs have taken over Port-au-Prince in Haiti and hundreds of Haitians have been murdered by gangs. And the challenge is how do we restore peace and stability in Haiti? How do we conquer the warfare that the gangs have unleashed in Haiti? But something interesting happened in Haiti a couple of months ago. The people of Haiti conquered their fear and they decided that they would confront the criminals who have been wrecking havoc on their community who have been unleashing this violence. And they created an organization called Bois Calais. Now if you're a Creole speaker and you hear the terms Bois Calais, you immediately understand what Bois Calais conveys, the message it conveys. And I don't want to interpret it for the audience that's here at all because they will think I am irreverent and disrespectful. And I wouldn't want to be that, would I? And you know me already, I say things that people for some reason want to always exploit when they have the opportunity. But that's the name. And what it effectively meant was that this organization took it into their hands to begin to ferret out the criminals who are wrecking havoc and in turn commit acts of violence against those criminals to inflict upon the criminals the very violence which they were inflicted on law-abiding citizens. Now very clearly that is not the answer. Violence begots violence. And no community should feel empowered by using acts of violence to take lives of other persons. That's not the solution and can never be the solution even if desperation invites you to invoke that solution. And that's not my message for you because in our discourse with the Haitian people we tell them very clearly that we do not support this method of confronting community violence. That that kind of violence can never be justified or be right. And I would never ever want to prescribe that approach in our country. But there's an important lesson, nevertheless, to extract from what has occurred. It is that unless as a community we come together, unless the mothers take the fathers with them, hold their hands, unless the mothers can persuade the young men that there's an alternative to the lifestyle of violence, we will not conquer violence. We can only do so if we are together as a community. That's the lesson I extract from that experience in Haiti. That's why it's so important for what Raise Your Voice is doing. That is to say to try to mobilize the community and bring people together. But there's a vital ingredient in this. We have to conquer fear. We have to conquer fear. You can confront violence if you don't conquer fear, if you don't fight fear. You're afraid. You're afraid to walk the streets. You're afraid at night. You're afraid to talk to certain persons in the community because if you talk to them they're going to report you. You may be gunned down. You're afraid to make information available because somehow you're fearful that the information will get out. Which is a reality that the police need to understand. We have to conquer fear. And as we seek to find a solution somehow we have to empower all in our community including our mothers to confront this fear, this notion of fear. If we can't then we're not going to conquer issues of violence. But you know what? They have made giant steps to conquering fear. Because when they sat together in all the meetings that we had or other groupings engaged in VFOR, they spoke to each other to conquer each other's fear. And we need to build on that, to build on conquering fear in our midst. Finally, let me say because I have always stayed my welcome, I'm happy that there's a component in this project for self sustainability. This is so critical and so important. We have to train our mothers in alternative livelihoods. The society has to take responsibility. The government has to take responsibility. And they have to take responsibility because these parents were never offered an alternative education or alternative lifestyle. The vast majority of them never went to a secondary school or even never had proper schooling. Either because of their poverty or they saw no real value in education. And that's a state responsibility to provide education for citizens. And I'm not necessarily blaming this generation because it belonged to a generation in the past who did not properly understand the value and purpose of education in our communities. And some of you are very idealistic and believe education is always liberating. I'm not of that view at all because sometimes I see some of the worst offenses in this country being committed by people who are supposed to be educated who have very colorful and powerful degrees next to their names. That's the issue. The issue is about who they are as ordinary people and as a citizen, that education is necessary and vital because it opens different kinds of pathways. If it doesn't transform you as a human being, then what value is it to you and to others? But the fact is irrespective of what we believe about education and the powers of education, we have a responsibility. And a lot of these parents were not afforded that opportunity. So now we have to retool. We have to retrain. And I'm happy that there's a self-sustaining component. But it must be realistic in what it promises and proposes. And I heard you, Catherine, when you said you got a rejoinder. You thought people were right to respond that way, you know. Don't make that mistake. When they tell you that they're right and I don't blame them for saying so. Because you see too many others from outside because they feel they have the prescriptions for the community of you thought. And they do not ask the people of you thought what it is they think is necessary for them and for their emancipation. They don't. They want to come and impose. And I see it in my life all the time that they have the answers from my constituency and they don't come and ask me what I think and what I believe. You don't do that. And that is why I want to applaud you on a second ground. First for recognizing that psychological dimension. If you want to unlock the people of you thought, then you have to sit with them, be with them, explore with them. And so when you said in your comments that you are seeking to find out from the constituency what it is that they want, what they would like to see. It is the right approach because it is a bottom up approach and you're not pretending you are the vast reservoir of knowledge and skills that you're going to impose on them. So I applaud you for that. And I say to you that is the right way to go. And so the people of you thought I invite you to cooperate with raise your voices and I invite you to make use of this program. And I really, really do forward to the outputs and to the success of this program. Thank you everybody and have a wonderful day. Thank you, Dr. Anthony. Anthony, we appreciate your remarks, very sombering, very thought provoking as we focused heavily on the plight of mothers, the women of this community. But I want to just highlight a few things you spoke of quickly and the need, one of which is the need to raise a responsible and independent generation, especially of young men, responsible and independent generation who can work collectively in raising view fought in raising the standard here in view fought. In the good book, we are told that two are better than one and though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. And if we're able to successfully merge the potential, the talent of the man and Bruceville, I am sure I am positive that view fought will be a vibrant commercial center that even the north will envy. I now want to not take any more time, but at this moment we want to invite our keynote speaker, Dr. Madri Jameson Charles. She is the current principal of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and she will speak with us on the topic the impact of gun violence on communities. Dr. Jameson Charles, welcome. Good morning, everyone. And I would like to adopt the protocol as already established. I also want to make a disclaimer. Like Catherine, I was born in view fought. I am from the south. Good things come from the south. I spent the first 10 years of my life on Clark Street view fought. I was born at the hospital that is now called the wellness center. And my parents migrated to castries and then I attended a primary second infant and primary until my parents migrated to castries and I continued my secondary education in cast. But in 2009, my mother returned to beautiful and I was out of the country. But every time I come to Saint Lucia, I stay in view fought from since 2009. So I am kind I know some of the issues that we are confronting with in before. And I come I stand here to try to represent Dr. Henry Charles and I know I won't be able to do things that he would have done or how he would have presented the keynote. So yesterday evening when Catherine called and asked me whether I can do the keynote, I said, OK, what do I say and how do I represent what Henry would like to say. So I'll try I will not be able to put in the calypsoes and all of the things he would put in when he does his presentation. But I will try my best to see how I can tackle the topic on in terms of the impact of violence on community. And I also want to speak to towards a public health model in developing peaceful communities. So I start and I want to talk about the issues related to violence as they pose severe challenges to the sustainable development of Saint Lucia. And as we know, these issues have been subject to the subject of intense public discussions and policy consideration among governments, development planners, non-government sectors, young people on the network, families, community, the Facebook criminologists, because we have a lot of criminologists who are on Facebook who know everything about crime and how to solve it. And also the media. This is because of the negative impact on our economic performance, our public health, our productivity, our education, our well-being and most importantly, the citizen security. So the real criminologists, many of them have given a number of reasons or a number of consequences of high rates of crime and violence. And also I want to also say that I did some research in anguilla on the impact of crime and violence. There's a survey among the prisoners, education and everyone who was in fact who were part of the community. So one of the things that we have, we see in research is that the high rates of gun violence would directly threaten the physical safety and well-being of individuals within a community. And we saw that because people feel unsafe, they would not want to go outside and they wouldn't want the public to engage in social activities and they spend the time at home because they did not want to be part of it. Constant exposure to crime and violence can lead to increased stress, anxiety and trauma among community members and we saw that too when we had the high rate of crime and violence in the South. There was also the fear of victimization and that can create a pervasive sense of unease and negatively impact mental health and we heard our esteemed colleague Dr. Kenny and Anthony speak to that. The fear of crime and he spoke about fear also can lead to what we call social isolation and social isolation is the way people avoid going outside or interacting with others. This isolation can also weaken the social bonds that we have in our community and it will reduce what we call community cohesion and also it would also erode trust among our neighbors because nobody wants to say anything because they don't want to get, some people say, this person said that and so on. Another thing we also were able to see and even that the research said that and we were able to see that firsthand is that the high rates of crime can deter businesses from operating in that particular area. So therefore the economic activity is decreased and then therefore it affects our employment opportunity. And people may not want to invest in or move to our community because of the reputation that it may have in terms of what we call I spent 13 years in Trinidad what they call a hotspot area. Social schools located in these in high crime areas may struggle to provide a safe and conducive learning environment and students ability to focus and learn might be compromised due to the stress and trauma caused by crime and violence and I'm sure we saw that during the last time. And our communities with high crime rate often have low property value because no one wants to come and live there. Okay, so therefore we have the cycle of these investments and and that as a result is a decline in the overall neighborhood quality because no one wants to come and live there. And then we talk about crime, the impact of crime and community health by limiting access to public spaces and recreational facilities. Nobody wants to go and play on the field and so on and so forth because they're afraid and they avoid parks, avoid the playgrounds and other activities because of the fear of crime. And then also in terms of social services, high crime rate can divert resources from social services and community development efforts. I will look at what you see law enforcers and emergency services might require more funding and so it would leave less money for programs, developmental programs that may want to address the cause of crime. Children grew up in communities plagued by crime and violence are often exposed to traumatic experiences that can affect the development and future opportunity. So that that cycle of crime continues. We talk about the high crime rates can undermine community empowerment and engagement because people, they become disengaged from civic activities and community organization because they feel helpless. Where am I going? I can't do that. And then we look at the high crime areas and what you call them hotspots, they are stigmatized. So they have negative stereotypes and say and discrimination among the residents of the community. So you come from the man I come from. And that would marginalize the community. And we know that sometimes it's just one person or two people in a particular community that may have exhibited these kinds of behavior, but then the whole community is stigmatized. And then we also have the high crime areas as we have strained relationship between law enforcement and the community. And I'm sure our esteemed colleagues here would be able to identify with that. And so we would have excessive policing that can lead to mistrust while limited resources might mean that not all crime deserve attention. So we have I'm sure we all could speak to that. Now they have a lot of recommendations. People have recommended a number of programs to place crime to address crime and violence. But a lot of these programs are not adequately address what we do. So they are necessary but not sufficient. And we also know at the School of Public Opinion on crime prevention activity, you get harsh recommendation on yielding recommendation. And as I said, the citizens would want accountability from the elected officials. So they want to know what is the MP doing? What is the government doing? What's who doing what who's doing what? Okay. So especially when some of these violence are done by youth on you. The news is for the census sensationalize to accentuate fear and intolerance. So the call for punitive solution to what is marked as escalating new violence does not adequately address this issue that we are grappling with. So I know the government has been asked to implement crime prevention activities through education to address perceived inequality and inequity. Provide job opportunities targeting the marginalized urban poor. Remember I notice I don't say at risk you because we are all at risk. It doesn't have to be just because you live in a particular area at risk because I know there are people who live in affluent areas who are at risk also. So we're looking at a number of approaches. I want to do approaches that Henry and I speak to a lot in our work is the public health approach in developing programs to prevent and reduce violence. So such an approach does not replace criminal justice or other crime prevention approaches. Instead it compliments them by bringing different a different view and other important players to the table and it also equip us with tools and resources. Okay to prevent and to reduce crime. So as we as we in the in the 50th anniversary of curriculum, the public health model was articulated. And as of the new principle of South Lewis, it is a priority area for us in and we have it long as our research agenda in looking at the public health model of of crime prevention. So what the public health does it focuses on the health of communities and the population. So wherever possible interventions focus on populations at greater risk of disease and injury. So the public health approach aims to preserve to promote and to improve health. So what it does it emphasising preventing disease or injury from occurring or recurring rather than treating the consequences and what we have been doing a lot is sweet treating the consequences. So what the public health model use is a systematic scientific approach to understanding and preventing violence to answer also we are going to ask the question, where does the problem begin? And how can we prevent it from occurring? Okay, so there are multiple steps in the public health approach and each step is informed by the next. And many people, many organizations and systems are involved in each step and Catherine proposal speaks to that public health approach. So there are four steps that are used most in most public health model. The first step, the step one is the problem is defined. Like Catherine said, it is involved collecting data to determine who, what, where, when and how. So we collect that data from different places and from that data we are able to do what we need to do. And then the next thing is the next step we want to find out reason why one person, notice I say one person or community experience violence while another does not. So we have to explore that and then we use scientific methods to explore this and we look at risk factors. So that we look at factors that may buffer against these risk factors and then we look at protective factors and the likelihood of violence in the face of risk. And we look at violence prevention aim to decrease risk factors and increase productive factors. So in the step three part, we're looking at those prevention strategies. So we develop them as Catherine articulated earlier on the steps. So these are things that we are doing in terms of water prevention strategies. We test them, we pilot them and we share that information with others. And the last step is where the rubber meets the road where we look at the strategies that are shown to be effective that we use in step three and we disseminate that broadly and we implement them. So while many prevention practitioners may need more skills or resources in terms of step one, these things can be facilitated. So we need to look at training, technical assistance for the practitioners. And although with the step four, it may not be the final step because we have to do the monitoring and the evaluation assessment to ensure that the strategy fits that particular community. And I want to say that particular community because sometimes we have a one-size-fits-all strategy and it is not context-based and it is not cultural specific. So we will want to have something cut blush and say, okay, we're going to do that. And then it does not fit that particular community. So a one-size-fits-all prevention strategy will not work for us. We have to ensure we interrogate the cultural, the socio-cultural, the political climate in Viewport South, in the Mang, and in Bruceville for us to be able to be efficient. And I was saying to Catherine earlier on where I lived at Ravine, Shabbat, when I was a child. Manu Slantik would decide that he wanted to build a market. And he had no, and he just decided he built a market for us. And nobody has, and after I was a young girl, and up to now nobody uses a market. So sometimes we use, we develop programs and policies for people who do not need them. And I'm happy that Catherine is using the public health model, the public health approach to address the issues that we have in Viewport South. Okay, as I say, I live here. So I live in Viewport South. So I am passionate for me. Okay, the public health, so we look at, we have three levels. They have primary, they have secondary, and they have tertiary level. So then we have some intervention, we call universal interventions that we have been doing. Where we aim at large groups of people without regard to the individual risk. So we look at prevention, violence prevention, curricula, things in schools, a generic thing. And then we have what you call selected intervention, where we consider, where it's at high risk. And then we do whatever we have to do from that standpoint. And then we also have what we call indicated prevention, where we look at who have already demonstrated violence behavior and who are perpetrators of violence. So we are here. So what does it mean for us in Viewport South? What does it mean for the decision making on the ground? How can we use these four steps to get what we want? And how do, in terms of the public health approach, okay. So it is against this backdrop that raise your voice and interrogated that approach. And determined that it was the best approach to address some of the challenges that we face in Bruceville and Mann. And we have started the process to assist in the provision of psychosocial support for residents. Where we talk about it's an all-inclusive thing, men, women, boys and girls. So let us as a community, a community in Viewport South, support this initiative so that we begin to heal and to develop peaceful community. And as a new principal of South Lewis Community College and a Viewportian, I will speak to the Board of Governors to determine how the South Campus will support the initiative. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Dr. Jameson Charles. Indeed, the South produces good stock, good men and women. In Dr. Jameson Charles' presentation, we were reminded that crime is multifaceted. It doesn't affect just the person who had the perpetrators of crime. Because when we had this moment of unrest in Viewport, every single person from Viewport felt it and even around the island. I remember one day, I was Sunday morning, I think it was, we were heading down to Suffra as a family. And we stopped in Chvazel and a gentleman asked me, you know, where were we coming from? And I said, Viewport. And he said, we are praying for you. And in that moment, I'm not from Viewport Town. I wasn't directly impacted. Yes, I lost two friends, but I wasn't directly impacted so much by the violence. And I felt a little bit emotional in that moment that the rest of the country cared enough. But this has to be something that Viewport embraces and runs with. Nobody else can do it for us. Nobody else lives the experience of Viewportians. Nobody else but persons from the man and Bruceville walk and talk and live in Viewport. And they understand better than anyone else how much they've been traumatized, what they have lost and what can be gained from a unified Viewport. If we can hold hands with Catherine Siles and her organization, raise your voice and Lucia, Inc. If we can hold hands with our parliamentarian, Dr. Anthony, if we can hold hands with our police, if we can hold hands with our youth workers such as Miss Schumer Childs, if we can hold hands with the people of Viewport, and we can work together, I am sure, not only will we be able to find the why, but we will find the how and we'll be able to rebuild what which is ours, what is Viewport, our beautiful, tranquil community Viewport. It's not lost, we just scarred a little and we can overcome. At this moment, for closing remarks, I want to invite Miss Rice Joseph, who is the Executive Director of the Folk Research Center and also from the community of Viewport. Good afternoon, everyone. I do not wear the heart of Executive Director at this time, but as Miss Joseph Sprott said, as a VE portion from Larry Schuss was educated in VE4, who continues to live here and who is looking forward to the successes that will be reaped from this initiative. At this time, my closing remarks are tied to thanks and gratitude because we take for granted that it took many members of various communities to make this initiative possible and very often this is what we need, collaboration, partnership to make strong communities. And at this moment, I just want to thank Pogisala Feth of VE4. So to raise your voice in NUSHER Inc. for being the strong civil society partner ensuring that this movement makes a difference, not just in VE4, but throughout NUSHER because this week we also had a historic moment of the Sotaning Ceremony in Union for providing support for the empowerment of women and girls who have been impacted by gender-based violence. We say thank you for standing in the gap because we not only need leadership from our government, but from our civil society. And very often when government and other agencies have not been present, you have been present and so we thank you. Can we put our hands together for raise your voice in NUSHER? To the government of Canada, we want to also express our profound appreciation for funding this initiative. You are more than a donor because gangs still have money and they can provide funding for a variety of things. But you make a difference in stopping in the gap and saying that we would like to create transformation in the lives of people. And so for your support and your partnership, we are indeed grateful and we thank you. At the local level, I want to recognize at this time the generosity and commitment of the late Dr. Henry Wallace Charles who was unselfish in sharing his decade-long commitment to youth development and initiatives and partnering with Raise Your Voice in NUSHER in ensuring that even when he has made his transition, the impact on youth and community development is still felt here today and we are indeed grateful for his work. Often referred to as the grandfather of youth development, we thank him for his initiative, for his partnership and his willingness to assist Raise Your Voice in NUSHER. To Dr. Margie James Charles, who we know will deliver great stewardship to Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, we thank you for providing greater insight into the impact of violence from a public health approach and for your commitment to education and transformation in NUSHER. Thank you very much. To the parliamentary representative, Dr. Kenny Anthony, we thank you for your stewardship, your commitment and your endorsement. It means a lot to the people of VFO that you are here today and that you continue to work alongside all partners who are friends of VFO at this time and we thank you and we know that you will make an impact in VFO as you are doing in Haiti as well in bringing about social peace. Thank you very much. To the coaches, the counsellors, the volunteers, the person sitting off to my right who are making a difference, you too are important partners and we thank you for your time given to the young people of VFO, given to families to make a difference. We thank the young people as well for being willing to come on board and being part of doing good work and sowing good soil in our space. We thank the media for documenting this moment and for ensuring that the positive messaging that we need to go out in Sir NUSHER and beyond is taken afar for VFO. We thank our USHERS and all individuals who made today possible and last but by no means least for Mrs. Eleanor Joseph Sprout for her stewardship in guiding us through today's proceeding. Thank you immensely for your contributions and for your continued partnership beyond today because this day started a long time ago. It's a process that continues long after and we look forward to your commitment, your presence and your encouragement. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Joseph. We are not yet at the very end of today's program. We have heard all of the lovely deliveries but now we have some refreshments and our young footballers are going to display some talent. If there's one thing we know about Vue Fort South, where is Mr. Belas, Mr. Movin Belas, that we have good football talent in Vue Fort South and we have our young footballers here with us who will display such talent. Again, we thank you. We cannot thank, raise your voice enough for this initiative but we know that as the time goes by and we begin to see the fruit of this initiative we will have even more thanks from the community of Vue Fort. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your effort and we look forward to engaging you in the future as we continue to rebuild a better, stronger Vue Fort. I thank you.