Mc Coy lambastes international agencies

Aug 07, 2008 News

…over support for Youth Crime Watch programme

Executive Director for the Guyana Youth Development Association (GUYDA), Kwame Mc Coy yesterday lashed out at a certain international agency in Guyana for not providing any support to the Youth Crime Watch Programme in Guyana.

This programme was launched in the city yesterday. The launching, which occurred in the Promenade Gardens, followed a delay of over one hour. The attendance left much to be desired.

Youth Crime Watch is aimed at engaging young people as stakeholders in the prevention of crime. There is to be a special focus on schools and community safety in areas to address such issues as violence and substance abuse.

Mc Coy noted that several efforts have been made by the organisers of the programme to garner the support of some international agencies to provide resources but until now, they have not paid any interest in forming a relationship with the programme.

“From our experience, we need to review the operations of these international agencies in Guyana because we have seen at our level, increasing evidence of their resources revolving around a few organizations and individuals, and there seems to be no effort to expand access to other groups and organisations. We have the evidence to support this,” Mc Coy said.

He explained that at one time, he approached an international agency here in Guyana to assist in having some of his colleagues from the youth crime prevention programme be trained overseas.

According to Mc Coy, the agency agreed to provide funding to the tune of US$18,000 for the training and said it was a ‘fantastic idea’.

However, he noted that the international agency had wanted to send a delegation to be trained in the United States, and that they had wanted to send persons from other organisations, people who were not part of the youth crime prevention programme, and people with whom the programme had no existing relationship with.

Mc Coy added that these persons did not know anything about the programme, and the international agency was using the opportunity to send its friends on a ‘trip’.

“We are not hard up for a trip. We have a very good reason for refusing that offer eventually because they were trying to force us that if we didn’t include the people in the delegation, they would not fund the training. I said keep your money because we don’t need a trip. We are not sucking up to people for any trip,” Mc Coy said.

He noted that there is a need to review the progress of these organizations to make sure that the resources they have which are intended for the development of Guyana and Guyanese are distributed equitably without discrimination and marginalisation.

The Youth Crime Watch Programme has received assistance from Republic Bank and $3 million from President Bharrat Jagdeo.

It was explained that the programme seeks to promote the principle of good citizenship and will motivate and involve young people in active roles in addressing problems around them.

It also seeks to provide the tools, guidance and self confidence to prevent crime, violence and drugs. Within the next two weeks, the programme will be presented in schools and various communities across the country.

Present at its launching yesterday was Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, who noted that the programme has received his full support.

He urged for it to provide skills training for youths in depressed communities so that they can learn a certain trade and then be able to acquire a job.

It was also noted that the very programme was already launched in 2004, but due to the lack of resources, the organisers were not in the position to execute the work they had intended.