The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) says it has entered into an agreement with Spain for a citizen security project that will focus on youth and gender issues, as well as youth entrepreneurship.
The Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said the CARICOM-Spain Citizen Security Project was signed late last month during discussions between representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), to formalise approvals for new regional interventions for the 2013-2014 period.
It said the interventions under the project focus on support for the prevention and reduction of youth on youth violence in schools and communities in five CARICOM countries and support for the implementation of youth entrepreneurship training through the Creative for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO) Programme in 10 CARICOM countries.
“These interventions will be implemented in large part by the CARICOM Secretariat and will entail collaboration with national public and private sectors, civil society partners and other stakeholders.”
The CARICOM Secretariat said that the discussions with the Spanish officials were a follow up to the second meeting of the Joint Technical Committee to the Joint Fund held in Trinidad on September 11.
It said the meeting also reviewed the progress of current institutional strengthening and economic development projects and agreed on the systems and resources required for effective management and operations of the Joint Fund for the current period.
“Despite the grave economic and financial crisis which the country has been battling in recent times, the Government of Spain has continued to provide important technical and financial assistance for development in the region, a sign of commitment to its engagement with the member states and peoples of CARICOM,” the CARICOM Secretariat added.
