Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis: Under the leadership of The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis – Dr Terrance Drew, the nation has entered the club to launch the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission’s Opportunities to Advance and Support Youth for Success (OASYS) project. The instance came into motion on June 16, 2023 (Friday), when the Prime Minister delivered his remarks while presenting the OASYS project to fellow members.
According to the shared information, Prime Minister Terrance Drew addressed the event and noted that the project aims at promoting peace and harmony among the youth of the Eastern Caribbean region. He expressed his thoughts and said he had “enthusiasm and optimism” for the “transformative journey dedicated to empowering our youth”.
The major focus of the initiative will be on strengthening the existing programmes. It will also provide investment for the new ones, which will offer new development skills, family interventions, and psychosocial support to the youth in conflict with the law.
The government further outlined that these initiatives will be implemented through major collaborations with government and non-government partners, private organisations, and civil society organisations.
In addition, PM Drew extended his remarks and noted that the recently launched project would work to reduce and control the amount of violence and crime in the region of the Eastern Caribbean. The project aims to promote and strengthen the youth justice system, which will assist the government in maintaining law and order.
Furthermore, it was also outlined by the Prime Minister that the OASYS project reflects a ray of hope for the people of St Kitts and Nevis. The government of the Twin Island Federation has been working towards fulfilling the commitment to nurturing their potential and fostering their dreams while expanding their boundaries, said the Prime Minister.
It was mentioned that the project is an essential tool used by people who must regularly overcome the obstacles they face. It was stated that the nationals would be able to grasp the opportunities to cope with the regularly changing world. The Prime Minister of the Caribbean country also stressed the challenges they have been encountering related to crime and violence.
He said that such incidents connected to crime and violence deliberately involve and affect the country’s young generation between the age of 10 to 29 years, which has been a major problem among them.
He recalled a meeting held in Trinidad and Tobago between the CARICOM leaders to review a proposal by a son of the soil Dr Izben that initiated a public health approach to the problem of Crime and Violence.
Prime Minister Drew continued his remarks and mentioned that “the government has been investing time, resources and money into treating the present problem, and not the root causes.”
He added, “I give my assurances to the people of this proud Federation that your Government will be addressing the root causes for interpersonal crime and violence and, after that, investing in their resolution.”
In the end, PM Drew also extended his gratefulness to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for their non-stop tangible support for one of the most tempting challenges related to crime and violence while focusing on young people.
