MIAMI – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will be hosting a Diaspora Conference on Gang Violence Prevention in Jamaica at the Inter-Continental West Miami Hotel in Miami on Friday, August 8, 2008.
The objective of the conference is to establish a working group that will provide input, resources, technical support and advocacy for the Jamaica Gang Violence Prevention Strategy. Logistic support for the conference will be provided by the Florida Association for Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas (FAVACA).
Jamaica has recently been plagued by gang violence given the increased proliferation of illegal small arms in this country. It is believed that almost 80% of the small arms illegally shipped to Jamaica are reputed to originate in Florida.
According to the Florida Gang Investigators’ Association, the US gang population is growing more rapidly in Florida than in any other state.
This has important implications for the region and, in particular, Jamaica, due to a number of factors including proximity to Florida, the large local diaspora population and high level of trade between the state and Jamaica.
At a recent diaspora conference held in Jamaica, diaspora representatives renewed their expression of interest in finding solutions to the problem of gangs and the illegal gun trade.
This conference is one in a series of consultations that will culminate in the preparation of a Gang Violence Prevention Strategy. The first conference of the series – the Guns Gangs and Governance (G3) Roundtable – was held in Kingston in June 2007.
Panelists for the Diaspora Conference on Gang Violence Prevention in Jamaica will include: Regional Deputy Attorney General for Florida Cindy Guerra, Chief Andrew Smalling of Lauderdale Lakes, Magdaleno Rose-Avila founder of Homies Unidos, and Laura Kallus Director of the Panzou Project in North Miami Beach.
Marlon Hill of Delancyhill P.A. and a FAVACA Board member will moderate the panel and key leaders in the diaspora community will participate in the strategy working group.
Representatives from Jamaica include Sasha Parke from USAID/Kingston, Bert Laurent and Sharene McKenzie from USAID’s Community Empowerment and Transformation Project, Allan Bernard from the Flanker Peace and Justice Centre, and Jamaica Constabulary Force members Willoughby Saunders, Shernette Griffiths, Stephanie Lindsay-Clarke and Merrick Watson.
The conference represents a collaboration between Jamaican law enforcement and their counterparts in Miami. Prior to the conference, the group will meet with the PANZOU project; Weed & Seed programs; the City of Miami and Miami Dade Police Departments, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Attorney General’s Gang Reduction Strategy Executive Committee
