KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – A senior Jamaican government official has reaffirmed a commitment to working with the development partners to strengthen citizen security and empower at-risk youth.
Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of National Security and Peace, Shauna Trowers, told the graduation and closing ceremony for the European Union (EU)-sponsored Building through Reintegration, Intervention, Development, Growth, and Education (BRIDGE) Project, that the collaboration reflects a shared vision for peace, safety, and youth empowerment.
“The Ministry of National Security and Peace has enjoyed great working relationships with both the EU and the MYF (MultiCare Youth Foundation), and I think it’s easy to get along when we have the same vision and our goals align,” she said.
The 34-month BRIDGE project provided layered, evidence-based interventions targeting at-risk youth in communities across Kingston and St. Andrew, Clarendon, Westmoreland, and St. James. It focused on strengthening literacy, life, and employability skills, as well as mentorship and behavioral support.
More than 300 young people benefited from training, counseling, internships, and vocational placements, while teachers, community members, and youth workers were also trained to ensure sustainability and continued community impact.
Trowers noted that the BRIDGE Project, which focused on providing interventions to curb crime and violence among youth aged 15 to 29, addressed key socio-economic issues affecting vulnerable communities.
“We endorsed the program and continue to endorse initiatives like this because it goes to the heart of some of the critical issues – reducing risk while building capacity,” she said, adding that “it’s one thing to give a man a fish, but it’s another to teach him to fish. No one partner can do it alone.”
The Chief Technical Director said that true progress in citizen security requires coordinated, sustained, and community-driven action.
“Having worked with our partners to provide for citizen security, we have learned, we have failed, we have relearned, and we appreciate that the community must work at all levels to get it right as we tackle a multidimensional issue.”
She noted that the project, which reached youth across five communities in four parishes, was successful in “meeting people where they’re at and providing avenues to improve lives, particularly those of our young people”.
Trowers said that much more needs to be done to ensure safe, secure communities and empower individuals. They expressed optimism that continued collaboration with international development partners (IDPs) such as the EU and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the MYF will yield even greater results.
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