Overview of IACPV: Violence Prevention Proposals

1. An overview of the IACPV, violence prevention and proposals for action Elaborated for the OAS Working Group, Public Security Ministerial Conference, Mexico 2008 Elizabeth Gozzer, Technical Secretary, IACPV, Washington DC

2. Introduction • Basics & structure of the IACPV • What is violence and what is violence prevention • Risk and protective factors • Role of the Coalition: why and what for? • Mission • Violence prevention & public security • Proposals for Action: developed for the OAS Ministerial Conference

3. Basics • Launched in 2000 • Innovative partnership of CDC, IADB, OEA, PAHO, UNESCO, USAID & WB • IACPV works for its member organizations. While each of these organizations respond to their own members (states, governments, etc.)

4. Structure • A Technical Committee with representatives of each partner agency • A Senior Advisor • A Technical Secretary • Current hosts: The General Secretariat of the OAS

5. What is violence? The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation. World report on violence and health, 2002

6. Types of violence ….. World Health Organization

7. Poor parenting practices Victims of child-maltreatment Alcohol or drug abuse Presence of criminal activity in the community Poverty Gender, social, and economic inequalities Unemployment Norms or cultural schemes that perpetuate violence Firearms/small weapons availability Weak judicial and criminal systems Isolation Illegal drug trafficking Demographic factors Early intervention Social development programs Healthcare and support system for victims Community participation Reduce alcoholic beverage availability Employment and reinsertion programs School reforms Strengthen of judicial and criminal systems and increase access to it Poverty reduction & inequalities Reduction of small weapons availability Social norms and systems level changes Urban planning Sample of risk factors vs. protective factors

8. What is violence prevention? • Stop acts of violence from occurring by intervening to eliminate or reduce theunderlying risk factors • Shore up protective factors • Reduce the recurrence of further violence and its ill effects

9. The Coalition: Why and what for? • Violence is generated by multiple causes • The nature of violence and violence prevention is multifaceted and multidimensional • A multisectoral approach is required to respond appropriately • No single institution can comprehensively address these complex phenomena

10. The Coalition: Why and what for? • Joining efforts and sharing information • Promoting a shift towards a greater balance between law enforcement and prevention approaches • Avoiding duplicated efforts • Sharing of best practices • Providing technical and political space for collaboration among members

11. Mission To generate professional and technical analysis and dialogue among its member organizations, and others institutions, promote comprehensive strategies for crime and violence reduction, centered on prevention and education across the Americas. Acting as a catalyst for the prevention of violence by increasing knowledge about multisectoral approaches that respond to the multiple causes that generate violence and facilitating the development of partnerships and programs that put this knowledge into practice.

12. Example of the Coalition’s achievements • Near universal acceptance of the importance of crime and violence prevention and its impact on development in the Americas • Sub-regional models established fostering greater collaboration: Central American Coalition for the Prevention of Youth Violence • Increased international awareness of importance of the role of prevention in addressing youth and gang violence as a compliment to control oriented policies • Design of universal Violence Indicators Manual • Increased implementation of violence observatories at municipal, national, regional, and hemispheric levels • Publication of Guide for Developing Municipal Violence Observatories and Violence Observatories Best Practices based on work in 16 countries in the Americas

13. Violence as a public security issue • Annually 1.6 million people die because of violence (WHO, 2008) • 90% of deaths occur in low and middle income countries (WHO, 2008): • Self-direct: 54% • Interpersonal: 35% • War and others: 11% • Violence perceived as a criminal activity only when reaching public domain • Large presence of intra-family, sexual, gender and youth violence, and self-inflicted violence • Public security = citizenship security & human rights

14. Violence as a public security issue • Harms the social structure of a state, damaging its productive capacity and imposing additional costs • Reduces investment and economic growth • Hampers individuals’ quality of life and community development • Diminishes trust in the police and criminal and justice systems and finally, the government • Increases organized crime • Imposes economic burden in poor and low income communities, perpetuating inequality

15. Proposals for Action: developed for the OAS Ministerial Conference • Developing standardized information systems • Knowing the actual cost of violence • Implementing a multisectoral and sustainable approach • Partnering with private sector and civil society • Improving the criminal justice and social welfare systems

16. Developing Standardized Information Systems • Why? • To understand the extent of the problem: population (both perpetrators and victims), economic and social situation, type of violence, crime and injuries, resources available, costs, and challenges and opportunities • To measure and analyze violence trends and directly affect public policy decision making based on that data. • How? • A good example: Implementing “Violence Observatories”

17. Knowing the actual costs of violence • Why? • The cost to society of crime and violence varies depending on the development level, infrastructure, and resources of each country • Violence leads to the abandonment of important investments in human capital and social projects • Constrains economic and social development, and weakens the society’s human capital • Prevention is more cost-effective than traditional - often repressive - violence and crime control tactics • How? • Developing in depth regional and country research studies

18. Implementing a multi-sectoral and sustainable approach • Why? • No one sector can solve the problem by itself • Violence prevention challenges demand an intersectoral approach that recognizes the many inter-linkages between the sectors and their collective impact on violence • How? • “Think Green, and Also Think Safe” • Incorporating social impact evaluation in every development and investment project • Developing policies at the local, national and regional level fostering violence prevention efforts in a systematical way • Including crime and violence prevention approaches in every sector: health, education, interior/security, financial, urban and rural infrastructure, and others • Integrating efforts across sectors • Sharing and implementing best practices

19. Partnering with private sector and civil society • Why? • Sustainable results require engagement of community at large • Resources availability • Leadership • How? • Involving large, medium, and small businesses • Involving communities and local leaders, NGOs, churches, and schools • Providing support through vocational training, job placement, mentoring, and other opportunities for at-risk populations

20. Improving the criminal justice and social welfare systems • Why? • Need for efficient and reliable criminal justice and social welfare institutions • How? • Training law enforcement and criminal justice authorities in human rights, civil rights, and violence prevention methods • Capacity building • Strengthening victim care and support systems.