| Overview : The Comprehensive Security and Violence Prevention that affects Children, Adolescents and Youth in SICA Countries (PreJuve) Regional Project, funded by UNDP/Spain, seeks to contribute to the improvement of citizen security within the Central American region, through the comprehensive reduction of associated factors to insecurity and violence, with a particular emphasis on violence that affects children, adolescents and youth. The project aims at working in three key results dimensions, prioritized within SICA’s Central American Security Strategy (CASS). The project will: 1) support in the formulation and/or revision of a comprehensive citizen security policy for Belize, ensuring linkages between this national policy with regional ESCA priorities; 2) support the development and implementation of plans and institutional capacities to improve social prevention of violence that affects youth at secondary and tertiary level, with emphasis on at risk population and territories with highest crime incidence; 3) Contribute to Belize’s participation in a regional Innovation Laboratory which seeks to promote the generation, exchange, systematization, south-south and triangular cooperation, adaptation of best practices and creative and innovative approaches to citizen security, which emphasis on vulnerable groups, as an alternative to current approaches and interventions. The United Nations has defined citizen security as “the process of establishing, strengthening and protecting democratic civic order, eliminating threats of violence in a population and allowing for safe and peaceful coexistence. …Citizen security is not simply the reduction of crime, but a comprehensive and multi-faceted strategy for improving the quality of life of a population, community action for crime prevention, access to an effective justice system, an education that is based on values, respect for law and tolerance.” UNDP has published a set of Guidelines for the Development of Public Policies on Citizen Security, which should be instructive to the successful consultancy team in developing the citizen security policy and plan as described in this Terms of Reference. Specifically, the guidelines advise that “a citizen security policy cannot be seen solely as a reduction in crime rates, but as a comprehensive policy that should also include the improvement of the population’s quality of life, fair access to opportunities, the guarantee of accessible, responsive and effective justice, an education based on values, respect for the law and tolerance, among others.” It goes on to state that “(f)rom a human development perspective, these elements —as well as the main factors associated with the generation of violence and insecurity— could be summarized as follows: the erosion of the social fabric, risk factors, unsafe urban contexts, factors that (re)produce gender-based and intergenerational violence, the presence of organized crime, and institutional weakness“ The PreJuve Project is now seeking a consultancy individual, team or firm to draft a National Citizen Security Policy and Plan. The Policy and Plan will be a composite of existing strategies and policies. In some aspects, it will provide a new lens with which to view existing plans, but where needed it will define new strategic actions. It will also define a strategic path to follow to focus on those strategies that are essential to improving citizen security and a core set of principles to guide decision making focused on the multiple aspects of citizen security. |
