Carter CITIZENS ACTION for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) has been given a $270,000 boost by the United States government to help promote electoral discussions in local high schools.
The Rt. Rev'd Samuel Carter, S.J., former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston, who is also CAFFE's acting chairman, accepted the grant and giving the assurance that it would go to ensuring the success of CAFFE's current project -- the distribution to high schools of copies of its reports on the 1997 General Election.
Actions
The reports contain descriptions of some actions which took place during the last elections and guidelines on how the police and others involved in an election should behave. More than 242 books have been distributed by CAFFE but its aim is to cover all the island's high schools.
"Not only do we want to distribute the other books but we would like to engender education classes and discussions in our schools. What is happening in Jamaica now, if we can believe the polls, many citizens are turned off by the democratic process and young people especially. They have to know their responsibilities and their rights," Archbishop Carter said.
Grant
Dr. Michael Korff-Rodriques, the US Embassy's Counsellor for Public Affairs, explained on Monday that the grant grew out of several projects carried out over the last three years which saw prominent Jamaicans such as actress Joan Andrea Hutchinson and Dr. Carolyn Gomes, chairman of Jamaicans for Justice, flying to the United States to witness its electoral policies and procedures. It also comes hot on the heels of the teachers' workshops, entitled "Civic Education: The Rights and Responsibilties in a Democratic Society," organised by the US Embassy in September and held in Mandeville, Montego Bay and Kingston. The workshops were attended by school teachers, principals, and political representatives
The Archbishop added that the $270,000 would represent a relaunching of his organisation, which has been affected by a lack of funding. He said that CAFFE was now preparing just in case general or local government elections are called this year.
He told The Gleaner that while the organisation could not definitely say that an election would be called, it was trying to amass the hundreds of people who had turned out in 1997 to observe the last general elections.
"Many have been wondering after the last elections if CAFFE was dead but I want to assure them that CAFFE isn't dead. It's alive. This is a sort of launching for us to show that we are getting ready. We have to prepare, get observers so that we can do the job (of) helping with free and fair elections for Jamaica," he told the small audience which had gathered at the United States Embassy's Office of Public Affairs auditorium, Mutual Life Centre, New Kingston.
