(BARBADOS, November 26, 2015) Social workers, child care workers, welfare officers, community activists and community development officers are among a group of 32 persons to receive training as community mediators under the Canadian Government funded, Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) Project. IMPACT Justice is a five-year regional justice sector reform project which is being implemented from within the Caribbean Law Institute Centre, UWI, Cave Hill Campus.
According to Prof. Velma Newton, IMPACT Justice Regional Project Director, speaking about the training, said: “We are seeking to increase the number of individuals who are available to assist in solving disputes at the community level before they escalate and have to be taken to the court. The idea of using mediation is to redirect some cases away from the courts.”
The training, which takes place from November 30 to December 4, 2015, at the Blue Lagoon Hotel, Ratho Mill, is part of IMPACT Justice’s mandate to build the capacity for community mediation services around the region in an effort to reduce the burden on the courts. The regional justice reform project is slated to develop or increase the pool of community mediators in 13 CARICOM Member States and assist in the development of a legislative framework within which mediations may be conducted. IMPACT Justice has already conducted community mediation training in Barbados, Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis.
This is the second IMPACT Justice training programme undertaken in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Project facilitated two Restorative Practices training workshops for educators in St. Vincent and the Grenadines under its broader Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Programme. These were held in September, 2015.
