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F ollowing the Advisory Committee meeting, a two-day research workshop, organised and led by Dr. Natasha Sobers and Professor Simon Anderson of the GA- CDRC, was held to bring focus on methodologies and data collection tools for the project, particularly regarding the costs of gun violence. The workshop, attended by colleagues from The Bahamas and Jamaica, delved into individual, community, and regional systems facilitating firearms trafficking and violence, with an aim to inform further research. T he foundation for these discussions was the Weapons Compass: the Caribbean Firearms Study published in April 2023. The study, a joint report from CARICOM IMPACS and the Small Arms Survey , highlighted that the homicide rate in the Caribbean is almost three times higher than the world average. It also revealed that violence in the region is closely associated with gangs and exacerbated by the availability and use of illicit firearms. The 'Pathway to Policy' project, with funding from the Federal Foreign Office , Germany is set to run from 2023 to 2025. u
public health, law, clinical psychology, anthropology, forensic pathology, education, youth, communications, epidemiology, criminal justice, research, and security, will assist in critically informing the substantial and procedural work of the Pathway to Policy project. Dr. Joy St John , Executive Director of CARPHA, explained that the project aims to support evidence-based measures against firearm trafficking and violence. It also strives to produce new research on the socioeconomic costs of armed violence in the Caribbean region. The initiative will implement a regional strategy to engage and disseminate research findings among key security and public health stakeholders. Additionally, it will develop an early warning social media dashboard on firearms crimes.
Dr. Joy St. John Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)
Dr. Natasha Sobers Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Epidemiology, GA-CDRC
Professor Simon Anderson Director, George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA-CDRC)
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