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Govt. to Double Efforts to Deal with Abductions – Senator Newby

November 5, 2008

The Full Story

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Senator Warren Newby, is assuring Jamaicans that the Government would be doubling its efforts, to address the spate of abductions and attacks on the nation’s women and children.
“We are committed to carrying out a multifaceted approach that will bring about a solution. The Prime Minister has put together a Task Force to look at different aspects of child safety and the recommendations that have come forward from them. Our own Ministry has been given a number of initiatives that we should undertake and among them is sensitisation, not only of communities, but of our youth,” he informed.
The Parliamentary Secretary was making a statement at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, today (November 4), where he outlined the Ministry’s activities for Youth Month (November) , its policy for youth development and the Ministry’s vision for the youth of Jamaica.
“It is a very moving issue; what is taking place, this concerted attack on our young women, on our children, on our women in general, is something that is unprecedented. Certainly, in my lifetime, I have never seen anything quite like this,” he lamented.
The Senator pointed out that the National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD), would be undertaking a programme, through the Youth Empowerment Officers and through the National Youth Council, to raise awareness among youth leaders, “so that they can go back to the Youth Clubs and in a sort of peer to peer counselling, advise other youth how, as young people, we can minimise the risk and our own vulnerability to the sort of attacks that have been taking place.”
Additionally, the Ministry, in association with the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), will be undertaking a multi-level public education campaign, to ensure that Jamaicans become more aware and abreast of issues, such as gender based violence, child safety and abuse, as well as issues associated with abductions. Jamaicans will then be able to use this information as tools in their every day lives to make better decisions, have informed discussions on the topic and come up with solutions for problems that may arise.
“We are working with media houses to disseminate information on what we can do to minimise the risk of abduction; what to do if somebody goes missing; and what to do if we end up in one of those unfortunate situations,” Senator Newby said.
“So, over the course of this week, we are having a series of meetings to fine tune a number of things. Of course, work has already started. There is going to be the addition of a missing person’s website, among other initiatives that we are undertaking with use of the media and use of the field force, that we have on the ground,” he added.

Last Updated: November 5, 2008

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