Sun | May 17, 2026

Holistic approach most effective to address crime, violence - EU

Published:Friday | July 14, 2023 | 12:09 AM
Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security, Dr Horace Chang (right), converses with European Union Ambassador Marianne Van Steen about the government’s commitment to a holistic approach to citizen security, during the opening session of
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Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security, Dr Horace Chang (right), converses with European Union Ambassador Marianne Van Steen about the government’s commitment to a holistic approach to citizen security, during the opening session of the Citizen Security Plan three-day retreat held at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston in July.

Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang is re-emphasising the value of a “whole-of-government” approach to identifying and dealing with the root causes of crime and violence.

He was addressing a recently concluded three-day retreat organised to review progress being made by the Citizen Security Plan (CSP).

“A holistic approach to citizen security helps to break down the silos between service providers and different ministries, departments and agencies to address some of the root causes of crime and violence,” he said.

Chang reinforced the value of quality data collected, and analysed, as a basis for institutionalisation and sustainability of social investment.

European Union (EU) Ambassador Marianne Van Steen, in her address agreed, noting that “a holistic approach is not the easiest approach, but we are confident it is the most effective and the only way to deal with the many drivers of crime and violence”.

The EU has helped the CSP through budget support and technical assistance. “We look forward to continuing to support the work of the Government of Jamaica in this area that is so critical,” she added.

The session saw approximately 50 stakeholders from more than 10 ministries, agencies and departments, as well as churches and non-governmental organisations involved in the CSP, gather to review progress and cement gains of the CSP.

The focus was on three strategic areas: The Inter-Ministerial School Support Strategy, Safer Spaces and Training and Employment for At-Risk Youth. Participants honed in on strengthening data to feed the CSP’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework tracking 70 indicators across ministries, departments and agencies, and were also involved in building integrated action plans to close critical gaps in service delivery.

The CSP is the Government of Jamaica’s plan for an integrated and “whole-of-government” approach to addressing and preventing crime and violence, with the retreat the third since the launch of the plan in 2020.

Participants focused, too, on concretising partnerships and uniting to achieve collective impact.