The Caribbean Community (Caricom) and Spain will collaborate on a citizen security project that will focus on gender and youth issues including youth entrepreneurship.
A release from the Caricom Secretariat said that the Caricom-Spain Citizen Security Project was signed off on September 25, by representatives of Caricom and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID).
The US$1.1 million total investment of the Caricom-Spain Joint Fund in the activities approved for the 2013-2014 cooperation programme will consist of both cash and in-kind contributions.
The programme focuses on support for the prevention and reduction of ‘youth on youth’ violence in schools and communities in five Caricom member states, and support for the implementation of youth entrepreneurship training through the Creative for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO) Programme in 10 Caricom member states.
The release said that last Wednesday’s discussions served as a follow-up to the second meeting of the Joint Technical Committee to the Joint Fund, which was hosted on September 11 at the Embassy of Spain, in Port of Spain, Trinidad. There, Spanish high-level officials, led by Rafael Garranzo Garcia, director of the AECID’s Department for Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean (DCALC) in Madrid, and the ambassador of Spain accredited to Caricom, Joaquin de Aristegui, met with senior officials of the Caricom Secretariat.
The second meeting of the Joint Technical Committee also reviewed the progress of current institutional strengthening and economic development projects and agreed on the systems and resources required for effective management and operations of the joint fund for the current period.
Despite the economic and financial crises which Spain has been battling in recent times, the government of Spain has continued to provide important technical and financial assistance for development in the region, the release added.
