Franz George , St. Vincent & Grenadines
Please provide us with your views on the state of peace in the country you will represent at the One Young World Summit
In 2015 the United Nations Populations Fund declared Latin and America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace as it was considered to be better off than other regions. However, it is my opinion that the Caribbean, and more specifically, my homeland, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is still a far cry from attaining the desired state of peace. For example, SVG has been noted by Worldatlas.com as having a murder rate of 25.6, the 13th highest in the world. This means that for a small country with only approximately 103, 000 persons, my country has been experiencing a proportionately high level of murder. This murder rate has more than doubled over the past 16 years since in 2001 it was only 11.1. Young men have been found to be the victims and perpetrators of most of the homicides. Additionally, SVG has been noted as having high levels of violence against women, and at one point, according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, had the 3rd highest rate of recorded rape in the world. SVG, therefore has far to go before peace can be attained for its citizens, especially young men, women and girls.
How do you think your work and/or activism contribute to a sustainable peace?
Currently, I’m working on an anti-domestic violence campaign along with another youth leader in SVG, and one from the UK. Although it’s hoped that the campaign would focus on the wider world, it also hoped that it will help to raise the awareness about domestic violence, and other forms of gender-based violence that are plaguing SVG. Public education will be one of the main goals of the campaign. It is hoped that the campaign will help to empower women to speak up if they are raped and encourage a culture in SVG where women who are raped are supported and empowered. I also hope to start an NGO that will focus on empowering youth and help provide them with opportunities to education and leadership. I believe that by focusing on those areas, youth will see alternatives to gangs and drugs, and be deterred from the current culture of violence. By especially targeting youth through the education and leadership empowerment, and through the anti-domestic violence campaign, I believe that a seeds of a more peaceful culture would be planted in SVG, so that despite the challenges the people may face in the future, peace may still reign.