There can be no doubt that integrally tied to our perception of well-being is the sense of feeling safe and secure, whether that security is economic, physical, social or emotional. In this ever changing world of threats and opportunities, more than ever, people are constantly looking for ways to increase their choices to address the issues associated with their well-being and development.

Increasing people’s choices is at the centre of human development. To this end, building people’s capabilities is an important requirement. Citizen security has been at the heart of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) integration movement and is a pillar of our Community. It is for that reason, our social resilience priority, as outlined in our Community Strategic Plan for 2015 to 2019, identifies security as one of its more strategic objectives; and has given immediate focus to: deepening crime prevention and drug demand reduction initiatives and programmes; facilitating justice reform; pursuing functional cooperative security engagements to tackle and manage shared risks and threats; enhancing human resource capabilities; strengthening regional security systems; strengthening CARICOM borders; and enhancing maritime and airspace security. It is within this context that the CARICOM Secretariat, particularly its Human and Social Development programme, has been working with Member States, Community Institutions and a number of regional and international partners and community groups to design and implement policies, programmes and projects to reduce those specific human and social conditions which prevent the Community’s people from increasing their choices. When in 2014, the Financing Agreement to tackle crime and security in the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) was signed by the CARIFORUM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, and Authorising Officer of the European Union, under its Tenth European Development Fund (EDF), Ms. Jolita Butkeviciene, it represented a significant leap forward in the Community’s efforts to address the issues of citizen safety and crime and security in the CARIFORUM Region.