Crime and Violence Prevention and Youth Capacity Building in Latin American Cities
Day / Time Wednesday, June 21st / 16:30 - 18:30
Event Description
This event aims to promote and disseminate recent developments in the field of community safety and crime prevention in urban areas, which demonstrate effectiveness and sustainability, and the central role of youth as resources. It will highlight local, national and international good practices, experience and tools, which demonstrate the growing use of well-planned strategic crime prevention, and its impact on improving the quality of life of young people, particularly the most vulnerable. This event will inform the publication of a Youth Source Book, Policy Guidelines for Municipalities on Youth Crime Prevention and development of a Youth Crime Prevention Prize and youth city-to-city exchanges.
Session Language
English
Spanish
Speakers
Juma Assiago, Safer Cities Programme, UN-Habitat
Margaret Shaw, ICPC, Canada
Host Organization
UN-HABITAT/NCPC/ICPC
Host Organization Description
UN-Habitat is the UN agency for human settlements. It is mandated to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. The Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) of UN-Habitat collaborates with the SCP in the implementation of regional activities on urban violence reduction and prevention. ROLAC has supported projects and the organization of regional consultations on urban violence and youth, women and children. NCPC, the Canadian National Crime Prevention Council, was created to ensure coordination across all federal departments and agencies responsible for national security and the safety of Canadians. From natural disaster to crime and terrorism, their mandate is to keep Canadians safe. NCPC works with volunteer groups, governments and businesses to support local solutions to crime and victimization. ICPC, the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, is an international forum for national governments, local authorities, public agencies, specialised institutions, and non-government organisations to exchange experience, consider emerging knowledge, and improve policies and programmes in crime prevention and community safety.
Report
Title of Event:
Date and time of the session: |
Crime and Violence Prevention and Youth Capacity Building in Latin American Cities UN-HABITAT, International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, Canadian National Crime Prevention Centre Wednesday June 21 – 16:30 – 18:30 |
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2. What were the core issues identified in your event as they relate to the theme and sub-themes of WUFIII?
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3. What were the main points raised by panellists and participants in relation to these different issues? What new ideas have been generated as a result of the discussion? Children and youth comprise at least 50% of the world’s urban population and almost 50% of the world’s urban poor. Their involvement in urban crime and violence prevention is critical given the context of escalating youth crime, especially in Southern cities. Recent urban riots (Sao Paulo, Paris) have emphasized youth dissatisfaction with their lack of engagement and opportunity in cities in reaction to the insufficiency of public policy in including and meeting the needs of all urban dwellers. There is not only a need to develop context-specific crime prevention strategies and initiatives but also to better develop specific knowledge and practice tailored to the needs of youth and those most at risk. This knowledge must be developed by and with youth, rather than continuing to try to solve youth problems from an adult-centric perspective. Furthermore, youth involvement in participative approaches is sometimes merely “token” involvement, while other times youth “representatives” are not truly representative of those children and youth most socially marginalised and therefore most in need. A paradigm shift is needed where youth are regarded as resources to be developed rather than problems to be managed. Youth must be meaningfully involved in the development of strategies and frameworks that can address their real needs as a segment of the population at high risk of social exclusion and victimization. This essentially involves focussing on protection of the rights of children and youth and promotion of their real, rather than merely token, consultation and involvement in decision-making and policy development. |
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4. What process steps have been identified in your event that could help turn ideas into operational reality? International examples of youth involvement in urban life include youth parliaments, forums, junior councils, and youth participatory budgeting. Youth capacity-building must be a priority for local authorities through empowerment, skills-building and livelihood development in recognition that many children and youth become involved in crime, either willingly or not, in order to survive. In relation to urban governance and the policy development, the human rights and developmental well-being of children and youth must be recognized as vital to community stability and sustainability and reflected in integrated local and national youth policies of all relevant sectors including justice, health, planning, education, employment, and culture and recreation. Such institutional support can be built by building more of a case for the cost effectiveness of early intervention and prevention. Key challenges to overcome include youth mistrust of government, police and even non-government organizations. Meanwhile, initiatives must promote the healthy development of families and work against youth socialization into accepted cultures of violence in order to begin to get at the real roots of child and youth crime and victimisation. |
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