St Kitts and Nevis: PM Terrance Drew commissions National Security Taskforce

Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister of Federation of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, introduced the commissioning of a National Security Taskforce to rollout a new initiative that will approach the crime and violence from a public health perspective. This initiative has been adopted by the government of St Kitts and Nevis as it is committed towards maintaining the law and order in the Federation.

The Security Taskforce will be headed by the Prime Minister Dr Drew, who is also the National Security Minister of St Kitts and Nevis. According to the government of St Kitts and Nevis, the team will comprise senior management officials from across the Government, including the Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Education, and the Office of the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis.

One of the prominent member of the taskforce will be Dr Izben Williams, who is a renowned Consultant Psychiatrist and President of the Ripple Institute SKN. The government introduced Dr Williams to the general public of St Kitts and Nevis and outlined that she also served as the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development at Windsor University School of Medicine and Head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Medical Ethics.

Dr Williams will lead the initiative as the expert in the field across the region because she holds expertise in the respective region. It is worth noting that Dr Izben Williams was the keynote speaker at the Regional Symposium to address Crime and Violence as a Public Health Issue – The Crime Challenge held in April 2023 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Terrance Drew took the platform to address the general public of St Kitts and Nevis. He stated that societal peace and stability are prerequisites for true social and economic development and for the accomplishment of the progressive Sustainable Island State Agenda by the government of St Kitts and Nevis.

He further stated that he believe that what is learned can be unlearned if there is early application of best-practice interventions from various sectors. As per the Prime Minister, the initiative will revolve around the holistic approach incorporation social development, national security, health as well as education.

The government of St Kitts and Nevis further outlined that the major focus was on children aged between six (6) and twelve (12), along with adolescents between thirteen (13) to nineteen (19) years. And to target them several programmes will be introduced, helping the children to remodel their behaviour and thinking by strengthening critical thinking, conflict resolution skills and analytical skills. One of the major focus of the initiative will be at boosting the self-esteem of the children.