A group of experts who met in Kingston over two days to examine crime prevention strategies, concluded yesterday that because young people are the main perpetrators of violent crimes, as well as the most vulnerable to abuses of a physical and sexual nature, a multi-sectoral approach was needed to tackle the problem.

In fact, Senator Deika Morrison, junior minister in the finance and planning ministry, called for the forging of a social partnership, which she said would “promote and support the implementation of programmes that will facilitate the optimum growth and development of all our children in Jamaica”.

The senator also proposed the establishment of a public/private sector “trust fund” that would facilitate research on issues affecting children.

“Rather than be paralysed by violence and crime, we must tackle the root cause and prevent the devastation that has been created. This is important, as wrong diagnosis can lead to wrong prescription, and therefore, lead to wasting of resources,” she said.

Several speakers yesterday concluded with Morrison that “the way forward must be a focus on children”.

St Lucia’s health minister, Damien Greaves singled out the region’s young males, noting that they were most at risk.

“The world is losing its young men… we see the same pattern manifesting itself right here in the region,” he remarked.

Citing the St Lucian experience, he noted that between 1998 and 2002, there were 125 deaths by homicide, representing 26.8 per cent of all external causes of death and 2.6 of all deaths.

He emphasised that about 86.4 per cent of all homicidal deaths were among males, with the risk of death by homicide being about six times higher.

The World Health Organisation, in its recently released World Report on Violence and Health, said violence was the leading cause of death in the 15 to 44 age group.

Over the two days, several studies were presented at the Pan American Health Organisation’s (PAHO) International conference, which also showed that youngsters in violence-plagued communities were adversely affected by crime and violence.

At the same time, a recent report published by Dr Julie Meeks-Gardner and Dr Christine Powell of the Epidemiology Research Unit, Tropical Metabolism Research Institute, University of the West Indies, showed that there was a high level of experience with violence among youngsters in the nine to 17 age group.

According to the study — Aggressive Youth and Youth Experiences of Violence: Who is at risk in Jamaica — 33 per cent of youngsters were victims of violence and more than 60 per cent had a family member who was a victim of violence. In addition, 47.5 per cent of the children surveyed reported having seen a dead body, while 38 per cent had seen fighting with knives or guns.

Meeks-Gardner also presented recent findings to the conference that suggested that children who exhibited aggression early in life, continued this pattern into their teenage years. She presented snippets of this latest finding at yesterday’s conference, but said that the analysis was incomplete.

The World Report on Violence and Health said 1.6 million people worldwide die annually as a result of violence, with suicide accounting for one-half of these deaths.

According to the report, 328 people are murdered in the Americas each day.