IDB President Implores Citizens to Help Fight Crime

President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, has emphasised the importance of community involvement in preventing crime and violence.
Addressing the opening ceremony for the Third Inter-American Forum on Violence and Prevention and Citizen Security, at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, today (Jan. 19), Mr. Moreno noted that “citizens cannot remain on the sidelines when crime and violence happens in their streets,” and that solutions to the problem of crime and violence require a regional co-ordinated network of policies.
Mr. Moreno noted further that part of the solution also rests in developing the political will to “sever the links between politics and violence, as a result providing Government with expertise, so that they in turn can formulate effective and comprehensive security policies for citizens.”
Citing homicide figures for the Latin American region, which has been rated the second most violent region in the world, with an average of 16.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, and the Caribbean region, with 30 homicides per 100,000 citizens, he noted that violence is one of the main concerns of citizens throughout the Caribbean and Latin-American region.
The IDB President noted that the Government of Jamaica has developed a coherent policy, that attempts to reduce violent crimes and to fight organised crime, and that this could be facilitated through the modernisation of the police service, working to reduce youth violence, the rehabilitation and reintegration of criminal offenders, and safeguarding against human trafficking.
He pointed out that the IDB can provide specific support, in the provision of employment, education and training; monitoring and information on crime and violence; improvement in the capacity of law enforcement agencies; prevention of youth and domestic violence; and improvement in the capacity of law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Moreno said the Bank was the first to respond to the problems of violence, noting that “we have financed a number of operations in a diverse number of countries. We have approved loans in excess of $70 million to finance citizen security operations in countries in the Caribbean.”
He noted further that the rationale for the IDB’s support of violence reduction projects, is that domestic and social violence, slow economic growth and impedes social development. “It also exacerbates poverty, it generates fear among citizens, and it presents difficult challenges for democratic governance and peaceful co-existence in our region,” he said.
The forum, themed: “Addressing Crime and Violence in the Caribbean Region” which is being held from January 19 to 20, will seek to strengthen the capacity among Latin American and the Caribbean nations to design and implement violence prevention and citizen security programmes in order to promote social and economic growth, increase foreign direct investment, achieve greater social cohesion, and strengthen democracies and democratic values.