OECS & USAID LAUNCH PROGRAM TO IMPROVE YOUTH JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN

Joint Media Release

The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development Eastern and Southern Caribbean (USAID/ESC) is pleased to announce a new US$5.3 million grant to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission to implement the Opportunities to Advance and Support Youth for Success (OASYS) project in the Eastern Caribbean over the next four years. ​ 

The project aims to reduce crime and violence rates among young people across the Eastern Caribbean and will focus on strengthening youth justice systems in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. ​ ​ 

OASYS will strengthen existing, and invest in new, programs that provide skills development, psychosocial support, and family interventions for youth in conflict with the law through collaborations with government and non-government partners, civil society organisations, and the private sector. OASYS will also support partner countries to implement and institutionalize a case management system to monitor young offenders from their initial contact with law enforcement through to his/her successful reintegration into society.

At the project launch in Saint Lucia, Acting USAID/ESC Regional Representative David Billings emphasized,

“The United States is committed to working with the OECS, national governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, and most importantly young people and their communities, to provide opportunities for youth to succeed.” 

In her remarks at the signing ceremony, Dr. Carlene Radix, Head of the Human and Social Division for the OECS, commented, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

“The OECS and USAID Youth Justice Project expands on earlier initiatives which contributed to the transformation of the child justice landscape, and allows for the strengthening of implementation in the spirit of the existing legislation and with the collaboration of the community.” 

OECS Communications Unit

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Ayesha Lett

Development Outreach & Communications Specialist, USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean

 

 

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About The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. The OECS came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate with each other while promoting unity and solidarity among its Members. The Treaty became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, so named in honour of the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis where it was signed. The OECS today, currently has eleven members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

Contact

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+1758-455-6377

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