The United States is providing a grant of US$5.3 million to the St. Lucia-based 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, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The project, which will be implemented through the United States Agency for International Development Eastern and Southern Caribbean (USAID/ESC) 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 organizations, and the private sector.
The 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, acting USAID/ESC Regional Representative, David Billings, said Washington 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.
For her part, Dr. Carlene Radix, head of the Human and Social Division for the OECS, said the project expands on earlier initiatives that 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.
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