Probationers participate in poverty reduction youth forum

THIRTEEN youth probationers and beneficiaries of the Ministry of National Security’s flagship transformation initiative, ‘We Transform Programme’, got the opportunity to speak with policymakers, sector leaders and representatives of international development agencies last week.

The probationers participated in the Poverty Reduction Programme’s (PRP) Youth Forum at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge at The University of the West Indies Mona Campus.

The youths got to speak to the stakeholders about issues related to development and their role in the process.

The PRP forum, which was held under the theme, “Bridging the Gap: Solutions for Youth Unemployment”, was held in partnership with the Government of Jamaica, The European Union (EU) and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, a recent release from the ministry said.

We Transform Programme Manager and Acting Senior Director of the Offender Management Unit in the ministry, Ella Ghartey, said the forum was an enlightening experience for the probationers.

“Most of the beneficiaries are products of circumstances and had run-ins with the law. This forum was a great way to make them more aware of employment opportunities, internships and tertiary vocational scholarship awards that they can utilise to move forward,” she is quoted as saying in the release.

One probationer, who was a part of the group of beneficiaries in attendance, said the forum provided her with much-needed motivation.

“I was a part of a gang and that is how I ended up in trouble. Listening to the speakers really motivated me to become a better person and take advantage of the resources that are available,” the probationer, whose name has been withheld, said.

Among the officials present were State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green, Opposition Spokesman on Youth, Senator Damion Crawford, and head of the European Union Delegation to Jamaica, Malgorzata Wasilewska, the release said.

According to the EU head, the youth forum was timely and strategically designed to give young people a voice and a platform to articulate the future they wish to have, and how they see their role in realising Jamaica’s development goals.

The ministry’s participation in the Poverty Reduction Programme forum is in keeping with the Five Pillar Crime Reduction Strategy: Crime Prevention through Social Development, the release continued.

Launched in 2017, the We Transform programme focuses on facilitating the rehabilitation and reintegration of youth offenders who were placed in the four juvenile remand centres. It targets more than 200 children between the age of 12 and 17 in the facilities, as well as youth offenders monitored by the island’s 16 community service (probation) offices, it said.

The release said the beneficiaries of the programme are under the supervision of the Department of Correctional Services.