Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Design Crime Reduction Plan through CariSECURE 2.0

August 15, 2023

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is working to ensure that its crime reduction activities are supported by sound data. To support this approach, CariSECURE 2.0 held a series of stakeholder consultations in the country between 26-28 July to kickstart a national workplan for the project.

CariSECURE 2.0 is a citizen security project implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean in partnership with The Ministry of National Security, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it will focus on addressing youth involvement in crime and violence by employing a comprehensive, evidence-based approach. To do this, it will build on the data collection and analytical capacities previously developed among national police personnel through the earlier CariSECURE project.  

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Hudson Nedd, who opened the proceedings, said the project fell in line with the policy standpoints of the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

“[Law enforcement] wanted to be able to identify the causes of crime, not just the perpetrators of crime. The data management is a very important element of that project, and it indeed laid the foundation for what will follow in CariSECURE 2.0,” he asserted. “We have invested a lot of money nationally in security and it would be sad if we couldn’t build on that level of investment.”

He highlighted that collaboration is critical in this second edition of the project, which focuses on improving citizen security in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the entire Caribbean region.

“We have to integrate with the other players in the region, and the best way to integrate our effort is digitally... This initiative will help in a significant way in how we are able to share data in the sub region to help with the mitigation of crime.” 

During the recent consultations at LaVue Conference Room in Villa, the CariSECURE 2.0 team met with youth representatives, government agencies and civil society organisations, who shared their insights on the best way to achieve the shared project objectives.

Shawn Carter, Deputy Team Lead of CariSECURE 2.0, said the project is especially timely as the region faces worrying rates of crime.

“Implementing any well-designed national crime policy would first require insights into criminal instances and patterns. What does data analysis reveal about victims, survivors and perpetrators and their communities or their social circumstances? How do we follow the data all the way to feasible evidence-based solutions?”

“St Vincent and the Grenadines’ endorsement of CariSECURE 2.0 signals its commitment to curbing these criminal trends. By the time the project closes, we expect that Saint Vincent will be better equipped to design policy suiting the country’s individual needs following key steps of data collection, data analysis and data-based interventions,” he stated.

While implemented by CariSECURE 2.0, the activities are designed by country stakeholders. Similar stakeholder consultations were carried out in May in Grenada.