THE CARIBBEAN Conference of Churches (CCC) will formally join forces with the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) tomorrow (Wednesday), in the fight against illegal drug use in the Caribbean.
The two institutions will launch their joint Drug Demand Reduction Programme at a ceremony at 2 p.m. at the CCC's Regional Headquarters in Barbados.
The programme will seek to address the issue of self-esteem and social responsibility in addition to focusing on propagating anti-drug slogans and messages through the region's churches and youth ministries.
The 12-month, BD$90,000 programme will include the preparation of 5,000 resource kits for drug education, the production of a theatrical script for community theatre and discussion, dissemination of drug awareness questionnaires, and most importantly, the training of country campaigners, who will lead drug education meetings and discussion groups in their various communities.
According to Dianne McIn-tosh, Programme Officer with the UNDCP in Barbados, this programme will work in much the same way that churches exercise their pastoral functions. Church personnel will be trained in drug awareness issues, and they would share there knowledge with the wider community. It is intended that in the long term such replication will produce sustainable results in the community.
Mr. Gerard Granado, general secretary of the Caribbean Conference of Churches, has indicated his organisation's commitment to this programme and cites it as a crucial component in the fight against illegal drug use.
He said the scourge of drug abuse, especially among the region's youth, was not merely a pastoral problem, but a developmental problem, particularly given its adverse impact on the Caribbean's people.
