Peace Innovators benefit from capacity peace building

SOME 20 representatives from the Peace Innovators and the Trench Town Community Development Committee benefited from a capacity peace-building programme organised by the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), through the Community Advancement for Peace Project (CAPP).

Colleen Wint-Bond, project coordinator at the VPA, said that the programme was developed by VPA member Dr Kim Scott, director of the Child Resiliency Programme, and Dr Michelle Miller, consultant.

“It is felt that this programme will be suitable for the CAPP capacity building with the community organisations. The programme is flexible, and Drs Scott and Miller have already successfully implemented it with medical students, members of staff of a private-sector financial institution, case managers at the Ministry of National Security, and lay pastors. The course has further been successfully completed for the community leaders certificate course at the International University of the Caribbean (IUC), and to the masters in educational administration and leadership programme at IUC,” she explained.

The programme includes 10 modules with 49 sessions and covers interactive topics such as peace building, resiliency and wellness; peace, strategies for building peace resiliency and wellness; communication; handling conflict and trauma.

MUTUAL RESPECT

It also looks at self-improvement; family and community improvement; healthy relations that will lead to mutual respect; traits of a healthy family; how to use communication to build peace.

The project focuses on equipping select local representatives with the knowledge, skills and tools. Wint-Bond noted that restorative justice, reconciliation, forgiveness and freedom to choose are very important components for the participants, who work directly with many high-risk youth in their respective communities.

“The participants focus on improving their environment to implement more effective secondary and tertiary youth crime prevention and to become more effective and sustainable actors. The VPA is interested in advancing collaborative, evidence-based youth crime- and violence-prevention strategies with key players in troubled communities,” she said.

The course will continue after the Easter break and conclude with a short graduation, Wint-Bond noted.