It is a familiar sight in many depressed urban communities and increasingly in rural areas as well: idle young men sitting at street corners all day. It is these groups, observers believe, that churn out Guyana’s ever-growing criminal class. Facing hopelessness in a social and political system that offers little opportunity, most start out by begging and eventually graduate – some to petty crime, others to drugs, guns and unspeakable violence. And observers’ views vary only slightly on the path that takes them there.       

Is it an indictment on the present administration, as some observers argue, that in the 16 years it has been in office, it has “raised” a number of teen killers? Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand, disagreed. Urging that the plight of teenagers who turned to guns not be politicized, she stated that although some of the criminals today had been born under the present regime their lives had been influenced by what occurred several years before. Manickchand admitted that her ministry may not be able to reach the 14-year-old boy aback of Buxton or Agricola to steer him away from a life of crime, but noted that those closest to such a child should equally share the responsibility of offering him hope. “Child protection is not only about programmes, but children need the right environment, and the politicians and the social workers will all have to work hand in hand to accomplish this,” the minister asserted.   

Manickchand noted that juvenile delinquency was no new phenomenon, adding that her ministry, as well as the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, had been working to address the needs of vulnerable youths, although she acknowledged that some of the programmes were not reaching everyone.  

Sociologists and criminologists say that there is a rise in youth violence globally. In Guyana, most of the crimes today are committed by young men — some still in their 20s. Over the past three years also, scores of teenagers have passed through the courts for their alleged involvement in serious crimes and a number of them have perished during gunfights.

Broken families
Marriage and family life expert, Stanton Adams, was of the view that the extent of teenagers’  involvement in violent crime pointed to a breakdown in the institution of the family. He said the situation was so stark that the question should be asked as to where would we find the next generation of leaders. Adams dismissed the view of some social commentators that poverty was the number one contributing factor to the rise in crime.

“People can be poor yet have dignity,” Adams, who is also the executive director of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, said. The dignity of which he spoke came from the kind of nurturing one got from one’s family, and if the family was failing to carry out its duties then it would only produce delinquents, he continued. Adams argued that poverty could not be totally eradicated, but that values once taught would remain.
Recently, a teenager in Buxton was charged with murdering 11 people at Lusignan. Two other young men — Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles and another referred to as ‘Nasty Man’ — are also before the court on a number of murder charges.

Frequently, parents of teens caught up in crime will say that they tried their best, but their children just chose the wrong path. Asked whether he believed this was indeed the case in some instances, Adams said the possibility existed. However, he noted, many parents saw parenting as just producing offspring, when it was also about producing disciplined, mature and self-governing offspring. “Once you have not done this then you have failed. You have not done your best,” Adams said.

Speaking directly to teenagers’ involvement in violent crimes, Adams said males were being neglected in society. Pointing to the many organisations that dealt with empowering women and girls, he noted that none addressed the needs of men and boys. “Nobody sees boys as a vulnerable group and they are left sometimes on their own… so we have some turning to drugs and becoming serial killers.”  Adams further noted that the growing problems among teenage boys were partly due to the absence of father figures in the home. He told Stabroek News that most of the single-parent households in the Caribbean were headed by women. “We need the fathers back in the homes…even if they are not there physically they must be there for their children in their education and other areas,” Adams said. He maintained that a number of the teen killers today would have grown up without even having the opportunity to sit and talk with their fathers. “This is a very serious issue and we need to address it,” Adams said.

Asked what was wrong with a society that produced child killers, Adams said if people could not find anything to be attached to, to give them hope and comfort, they would turn to drugs and crime. “We have people with no sense of significance roaming about our society; they have no role models, in some cases no parents or absentee parents.” It is this group whom drug lords prey on to carry out their nefarious activities, he said.

President Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking recently at an event at Babu John, Port Mourant, Berbice weighed in on this topic, telling the young people who were there that they needed to believe in something. “We need to have an ideal,” Jagdeo said, adding that these days he was hearing a lot of talk, but sometimes felt that youths were not committed to an ideal any longer. “When I travel through this country I see people, young people, waiting for the next hundred dollars coming from the States, not wanting to work. The work ethic is gone, [they are] drinking every single day [and] beating up the women,” Jagdeo declared.    

Blame the parents
Speaking on behalf of young people in Buxton, a number of whom had joined criminal gangs, prominent Buxtonian, Deon Abrams, laid some of the blame on parents whom he said were responsible for the lives their children led today.

In an interview with Stabroek News, Abrams revealed that in the initial stage of the criminal uprising in that community, “some parents were accommodating to their sons gravitating to a life of crime.” Coupled with this, he said, was the breakdown of the family unit.

“However,” he said, “there are cases where parents were against their children involving in criminal activities and spoke out, but the result was that they were threatened.” 

A teacher by profession, Abrams said that many of the young men caught up in this situation were from a generation which the education system had failed. “Most of them are products of Buxton Community High School. Community schools, over the years, have been dumping grounds for children who need special attention. The fact is that they were not given the sort of attention needed. They passed through without any skills and are now misfits without options,” Abrams said.

Asked whether the elders in Buxton still looked out for children who had strayed, Abrams responded yes, but that it was not like it used to be. “Some of the parents are themselves lacking parenting,” he explained, noting that the many teenage mothers and fathers could hardly take care of themselves, let alone deal with parenting.

Asked what was propelling the violence among youths in his community, Abrams disagreed that the situation existed only in Buxton. He noted that teen criminals today were motivated by money and believed that crime was a means of acquiring money easily. He said many of the young men in Buxton who had turned to a life of crime grew up in a society where they heard of big robberies and also partook of the proceeds of those crimes, since the criminals in the past took back some of the money to the community. “So they grew up seeing money floating around and this would have influenced them,” Abrams said. 

He added that in pursuit of power, some of the young men would have gravitated to crime. “When they have a gun it gives them a certain sense of power that they believe they can never possess.”

He went on to say that young men involved in crime were often so emboldened by the possession of a gun, they disrespected their parents and peers. “Once they hold a gun no one can talk to them,” Abrams said. 

Questioned as to what could be done to reverse the tide, Abrams replied that a number of residents had given up speaking to the teenagers bent on committing crimes. He said this was so because the gunmen themselves would issue threats to those they perceived to be in opposition to what they were doing. He noted that at one time in the village, anyone seen not to be in favour of the gunmen became a target and was branded an informant. “So people became fearful to comment on certain things and were careful who they spoke to,” Abrams disclosed.

Freedom fighters 
Abrams said, however, that there was hardly anything Buxtonians could do now to stop the criminals. He said if the state with the armed forces could not deal with them for over seven years now, Buxtonians could not do it either.

There was a pool of people in the initial stage of the criminal uprising in the village, he explained, who thought the escapees could have “brought control to the PPP/C government,” and freed Afro-Guyanese from economic and social oppression. He said this view was strongly entrenched in the psyche of some of the residents, and led to big marches in the community whenever one of the five prison escapees died. After a while, however, the very gunmen who had been hailed as freedom fighters became rebellious. “People became aware that the thing was not working after black people were being killed, and so some villagers shunned the gunmen,” Abrams says.

He expressed the view there may be pockets of people who were willing to uphold such a revolution, but their numbers were getting thin.

Asked what was necessary to transform the village, Abrams responded that there needed to be a transformation of Guyana. He reiterated that crime was not just a Buxton problem, although acknowledged that the criminals had made Buxton one of their bases. He said Buxton had been chosen as a criminal base because throughout history the village had always been a militant one and had played an integral part in the struggle during the 1950s and ’60s. “The militant nature of the village would have led many people to see Buxton as their salvation. Even in the protests, people looked to Buxtonians for the stamina, so it is not a surprise that the village was chosen for any kind of revolutionary action,” Abrams asserted.

‘Guns have killed the struggle’
But Buxton had run out of steam lately and residents were not as militant as they were in the past, and this, Abrams said, was because of the emergence of guns. “Guns have killed the struggle,” he said, noting that with guns the prospect of death was very real.

According to Abrams, those who had been involved in the earlier struggles in the village would certainly have seen the difference between what the struggle was then and what it is now. Back then people had been prepared to get on the streets and throw back tear gas at the police. But the emergence of guns had driven a deep fear into them. 

Minister Manickchand said her government’s policies to protect children from, not only crime, but other social ills, were sound. However, she said, often citizens were not very receptive and some had not been responding. Manickchand said her ministry had rescued hundreds of youths from the streets, who could have become violent criminals. The minister believed the onus was on all Guyanese to ensure there was a reverse in youth violence, and urged parents to take the lead.

Asked about her ministry’s family and welfare programme, the minister conceded that it was not up to scratch as not enough focus had been placed on this area.

But Abrams felt there was a deliberate effort by the PPP government to shift resources away from black communities and direct them to Indian villages, creating a situation where black youths were deprived of opportunities. Abrams said this had been happening at the level of central government and also at the regional level, and even some projects that were funded by donor agencies were handed out to supporters of the government.

The Buxtonian believed that the policies of the administration were also a contributing factor to the problems faced by many youths, not least in Buxton. “If changes are not made at the national level, Buxton would be repeated over and over again,” Abrams warned.

Source: By Nigel Williams; https://www.stabroeknews.com/2008/news/guyana/04/20/nurturing-child-criminals-an-indictment-of-guyanese-society/

Article Credit: Kaiteur News, January 17, 2008

More than fifty “Stamp it out” consultations were held across the country since early November and as it nears the wrap-up date, persons are being urged to still make contributions.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the consultations on sexual violence so far, and plans to host a live television programme early next year before the paper is laid before the National Assembly.

She further stated that stamping out violence in the society will be a continuing effort of her ministry, adding that this is also part of government’s commitment.

Stamp it out which contains proposals that deal with toughening up of laws against sexual offences and improving protection against sexual violence is expected to be presented in Parliament in the first quarter of 2008.

Consultations which began on November 2 end on December 31 and persons are being encouraged to make contributions by telephone, letters or emails to the ministry.

A massive education campaign will be launched after the new sexual violence bill would have been passed.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2007/features/12/25/over-50-stamp-it-out-meetings-held/

We join with the rest of the international community in offering our heartfelt sympathies to the people and Government of Algeria and, indeed, to all humankind. We have seen yet another attack on humanity.

      We also recognize the statement made by the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of the Bahamas on behalf of the Caribbean Community.

      The delegation of the Republic of Guyana, which includes three children, is delighted to participate in this high-level meeting to review the progress of our collective efforts to create a world fit for children. On behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, I extend special greetings to all child representatives and commend them for their invaluable contribution to this year’s review process.

      The care, protection and development of all our children, in whom lies the future of humanity, are objectives that demand pride of place on our national and global agendas. Guyana stands committed to those objectives. We welcome the opportunity to share our experiences in implementation and to exchange ideas on the ongoing process of transforming our world into one fit for children.

      Since the 2002 special session on children, the Government of Guyana has taken several initiatives to enhance the well-being of our country’s children and to ensure that their rights are protected. We have succeeded in reducing child mortality, while increasing the immunization of children against vaccine-preventable diseases; immunization currently stands at 92 per cent. Success has been achieved in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, even as efforts have been enhanced in the provision and distribution, free of charge, of locally produced anti-retroviral drugs to those infected with HIV/AIDS. There are ongoing efforts to provide quality education to children in Guyana and, while we have achieved universal primary education, concentration is now focused on the attainment of universal secondary education and ensuring the completion of that grade of education by boys and girls alike.

      The principle of the best interests of the child guides Guyana’s jurisprudence as it relates to legislation on children. To date, we have enshrined in our Constitution the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides the framework for promoting healthy lives, combating HIV/AIDS, providing quality education for all and protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence.

      It is disheartening to note the level of violence in many societies globally. For our part, we have embarked on a campaign to stamp out violence in our society, particularly violence against women and children. That matter is currently the subject of extensive national consultations on the basis of proposals by the Government to reform the law, strengthen protection and improve support and services to victims, while upholding the right of the defendant to a fair trial. Earlier this year, a Child Protection Service was established. The Government of Guyana continues to actively collaborate with UNICEF under the country programme of cooperation 2006-2010 to tackle child protection and welfare issues.

      Implementing a world fit for children has not been without challenges and setbacks, some of which are greater than those occasioned by financial and infrastructural constraints. Children across the world are at risk of further suffering on account of the global increase in food and fuel prices and in the cost of living. With internal and domestic conflicts and wars among countries, the innocence and rights of childhood are stolen. More needs to be done to address the scourge of poverty. More needs to be done to protect children from exposure to conflict situations, as well as to provide for their rehabilitation and reintegration into post-conflict societies.

      Preserving the natural environment for posterity is an important dimension of creating a world fit for children. As reports by the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change make clear, human actions are impacting the kind of world our children will inherit. Renowned economist Nicholas Stern has highlighted that those who will suffer most are the developing countries, which have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions.

      Vulnerability can be considered in terms of geographic location and economy, as well as age. In the developed and developing countries alike, it is the children who are most vulnerable. Where climate change leads to disasters, destruction and death, children suffer the most. Many become orphans; many become disabled; many become displaced. Their health is affected, their education is affected, and their entire life is turned upside down.

      Global warming and consequent climate change must be addressed. Guyana has taken a leadership role in that effort. Our pristine rainforest does much service to the world in terms of carbon sequestration. The post-Kyoto Protocol framework should make provisions for standing rainforests with mechanisms for rewarding countries for conserving those rainforests.

      From this rostrum, we appeal to world leaders, and indeed all adults, to do everything they can to avoid the road to self-destruction and move our planet onto a path of recovery through massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It will make little sense if we manage to eradicate violence against children on one day and they drown in a mighty flood or starve in a drought or famine on the next. We therefore stress the need for a coherent and comprehensive approach to issues concerning children.

      Guyana looks forward to sharing further insights on its national experiences in the round table sessions in order to contribute to an elaboration of best practices with a view to establishing and sustaining a world fit for children.

Source: https://www.un.int/guyana/fr/statements_speeches/statement-h-e-honourable-priya-manickchand-minister-human-services-and-social

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2007/opinion/letters/11/25/the-alliance-fully-supports-minister-manickchands-stamp-it-out-campaign/

The ongoing Ministry of Human Services’ consultations on sexual violence should be seen as the start of a national conversation, which should continue even after the Act is passed, Minister Priya Manickchand said yesterday.

The Government Informa-tion Agency (GINA), in a press release, stated that the ministry’s consultation at the Guyana International Confer-ence Centre, Liliendaal yesterday attracted the largest gathering of over 250 persons from about 40 organizations. The participants made recommendations on the sexual violence paper ‘Stamp it out’ during the session.

Presentations were made by Manickchand, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.

The consultation coincided with observances to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which will be observed tomorrow. The release said Manickchand, in her presentation, noted,

“Government alone cannot do enough to end the violence, every citizen should join in the battle”.

According to the release the minister said there is a need for a change in attitude by the service providers for the legislation to have the desired results.

The need for society to change its attitude towards victims of sexual violence was one aspect noted during the meetings, the minister said, since some persons still seem to share the view that victims can cause these acts to be committed on them.

Meanwhile, PM Hinds noting that there seems to be an increase in acts of violence especially against women and girls, especially very young girls, called for a change in society.

Hinds added that the government is working to put women and men on equal footing as it tries to promote harmony in relationships. He commended the minister and her staff for the work they have done so far.

Ali-Hack in her remarks stated that women today are the victims of every conceivable type of violence and that “the increase in the use of narcotics is causing people to give into their vices; these often result in violence against women”. She said these acts include rape, sodomy and murder.

The DPP stated that the current legislation, which has been in place for over 100 years, needs to be amended to deal with these criminal acts.

With reference to the culture of not reporting these crimes, Ali-Hack was quoted as saying, “We have a new Domestic Violence Act but it is not being sufficiently used by the victims. They need to use the orders, and the Legal Aid Clinic can assist with this.”

While noting that 50 percent of the cases listed at each High Court sitting are for sexual violence, the DPP acknowledged the slow court system as a causative factor for persons not continuing with cases.

She applauded the minister’s move to amend the committal procedure which will reduce the trial time for these cases.

The DPP shared the view that amending the law is not enough; the trial procedure needs to be friendlier to the victim, GINA stated.

The release said that after the presentations, participants sub divided into working groups to discuss the proposed changes and to submit a report on their recommendations.

Source: 

This week, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has been able to present the kind of ‘feel good’ news that is so scarce today. Not only has the ministry quietly begun its ‘Mission Child Protection’ campaign, but also in just three days of starting it, officers had managed to rescue 37 children from the streets. Of course, rescuing them is just the beginning of the uphill task ahead, which ultimately, one hopes, would see them never returning to the streets. However, having read the plan as outlined by Minister Priya Manickchand and her officers in a report in this newspaper on Tuesday, one gets the good feeling that they have considered this and there is a plan B.

‘Mission Child Protection’, much like the operation that had seen the same ministry under Ms Manickchand’s predecessor undertake to get aged street people into the Night Shelter, involves officers trawling the areas where street children are known to be. The officers were able to pick up 37 children ranging in ages from four years old to 15 years old, with no resistance from any of them, and take them to a home, which had previously been set up specifically for this purpose. This speaks volumes. The first thing that is obvious is that these children wanted to be rescued, and this shatters the common perception about street children. It also bodes well for the success of the programme, notwithstanding the fact that once they are taken off the streets, parents and guardians must also take some responsibility for keeping their children off the streets. The second observation is the stark reality of just how vulnerable these children really are.

This brings to mind something else the minister raised at her press conference. She reported that two parents had gone on television and protested that their children were being removed from the streets because of Cricket World Cup (CWC). Could it get any worse? Can these parents say why their children were on the streets in the first place, since they obviously have such caring parents? Shame on them. Parents who knowingly expose their children to the evils of living and begging and roaming the streets daily should be arrested.

Ms Manickchand then went on to say that some of her officers had warned that ‘Mission Child Protection’ might be misconstrued as an effort to get the children off the streets before the expected CWC visitors began to arrive and had suggested putting it on hold. The minister quite rightfully overruled this. The important thing about protecting children is not about waiting for the right time to start. In fact, the right time is as soon as they are born and failing that as soon as possible after, because the older children are, the more difficult it is to reach them. The crucial thing about ‘Mission Child Protection’ is not when it started but that it continues.

And it must continue. Poverty, lack of pride, poor values and perhaps avarice, among other things, force children out onto the streets and keep them there. Since there is no indication that any of these are going away anytime soon, ‘Mission Child Protection’ must become ‘Mission Possible’ and for as long as it takes.

The street children phenomenon is a fairly new one. Older folks will remember the days when there was no such thing as street children. People were poor, yes, but their pride prevented them from sending their children out to beg, or taking them out with them with the aim of evoking pity in a potential donor. Or perhaps, it was because in those days the wealthy were more unobtrusive; there was no blatant flaunting of money as is seen today among the nouveau riche. Whichever it is, this new initiative is one that Guyana has desperately needed for some time now. The ministry has wisely increased its staff as it will need to continue to monitor the children who have been returned to their parents and it has said that the parents will receive counselling and financial assistance where necessary. ‘Mission Child Protection’ is by no means an easy road, there are countless bends and twists that will no doubt begin to reveal themselves as the journey continues and those manning the programme must be well prepared for this. However, it will also bring rewards, the highest of which will be that it changes children’s lives.

SOURCE: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2007/news/stories/03/17/mission-possible/