Receiving over 200 applicants, The Citizens Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) which officially launched on Monday, combines preventative strategies with institutional strengthening activities.

The CSJP’s main objective is to contribute to the reduction of crime and violence and enhance security and justice in The Bahamas. 

“We want to be able to give young people an opportunity to have a safe environment, to have some activities that they can draw from that will help to empower them, to encourage them, to motivate them and we do it through a number of ways,” Component One Coordinator, Rochelle Lightbourn explained.

“There are some training initiatives that we are doing, we’ve talked about the gender based violence and the sexual prevention.

“We need to look at the conflict resolutions because one of the things that is so very important to us is preventing crime, finding those nonviolent conflict resolution strategies where young people have an opportunity to do things that are separate apart and different from picking up a weapon,” she added.

The programme has three other components, youth employability & employment, justice and rehabilitation and reintegration.

“This is multi-disciplinary for a group of multi-talented young people, for the most powerful youth, the most problematic youth,” said Director of Youth, Darron Turnquest. 

  “We’re in the business of changing lives, we’re in the business of making that investment in young people and not doing it as a form of tokenism, but doing it as a form of a realistic view of how we can think forward, of how we want to see our young people and making sure that we have the environment for them to grow in,” he added.

“Our national youth policy, the national youth policy of The Bahamas speaks directly to this particular outcome, and this is really important for us to make certain that we have spaces for young people where they are able to be molded and to become productive community citizens.”

The CSJP isa multi-faceted crime and violence prevention programme , funded through a loan from the Inter-American Development (IDB) and managed by the Ministry of National Security. 

The youth centres are strategically placed in hot spot areas like Big Pond, Quakoo street, and Fox Hill.