By Caribbean News Now contributor
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Commonwealth Secretariat have collaborated to build capacity of over 110 participants from Trinidad and Tobago and over 300 regional participants at a three-day course schedule for July 23rd – 25, 2019 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, under the title: Preventing Violent Extremism Course in CARICOM, the course advances the CARICOM Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
Over 130 persons have left the region to support the Islamic State (IS) as foreign terrorist fighters. This presents an urgent threat that CARICOM governments are continuing to address. CARICOM IMPACS and the Commonwealth Secretariat has also pledged support to the region to prevent violent extremism and counter-terrorism.
The police, military, customs, immigration, prisons, as well as government agencies, tertiary level academia, NGO’s and other regional organizations will benefit from both face to face and online video instruction, which will expose them to best practices and support measures. They will also be able to use this platform to discuss key concepts, international agreements, and norms. International experiences and regional cooperation in preventing violent extremism is also an area of focus.
The participants will also be provided with an in-depth understanding of both CARICOM IMPACS and the Commonwealth Secretariat counter-terrorism and preventing violent extremism programmes, a key objective of build the capacity of stakeholders to develop innovative responses; while promoting the protection of freedom of expression, privacy, and other fundamental freedoms.
It is expected that these efforts will provide a detailed understanding to manage returning, and relocating foreign terrorist fighters, counter-terrorism financing and prevent the exploitation of social media and…
