TIGblogs - Jamaica

AUGUST TOWN FIVE-YEAR PEACE AGREEMENT

 Being fully respectful of August Town Community’s strong desire for peace

 Attentive to the need of children for a safe environment in order to receive a proper education and develop their talents

 Convinced that tolerance of the beliefs of one another is the road to be followed

 Looking forward to the implementation of plans being drafted by the University of the West Indies for August Town to be a University Town

 Conscious of our obligations to the wider society and their apprehensions about the high levels of crime in August Town

 Believing that the amount of lives lost over the last 15 years due to gang violence has set back the social and economic development of the community.

 Eager to reduce the unemployment rate in the community by allowing persons to freely and safely move around or leave the community to seek employment.

We the leaders and representatives of the various corners or sections of August Town, in spite of our differences of various kinds, do hereby formally agree to put an end to all disputes and conflicts for a period of 5 years and we set out the Rules that will govern the conduct of this Agreement.

We enter into this agreement among ourselves and with our signatures as leaders and the signatures of key stakeholders and supporters of peace and development for August Town.

RULES OF THE FIVE-YEAR PEACE AGREEMENT

1. All leaders must be truthful with each other: your word is your word.

2. There is to be free movement of all persons across all boundaries and corners regardless of reputation or affiliation to a particular corner.

3. Guns are not to be brandished – they must not be seen at any time.

4. There must be no intimidation or threat to persons from any corner.

5. No gun salute or any other forms of shooting is to take place in the community for a period of at least 5 years.

6. Corner Leaders have a responsibility to guide and counsel corner members away from domestic violence, theft, extortion, carnal abuse, rape and other wrong doing.

7. Respect and tolerance must be shown for the political beliefs of others.

8. No person should be criticized, abused or labeled as an “informer”.

9. A PEACE COUNCIL with representatives from every corner is to be established and will meet monthly to monitor adherence to these rules and the development and temperature of the community. The Peace Agreement will be reviewed every six months at a meeting of the Council and key stakeholders. It is also expected that the ability of Council members to deal with conflicts will be enhanced by training received in the areas of Mediation, Conflict Resolution, Anger Management etc.
10. If this Agreement is violated, the leaders of the corners involved hereby commit to make good faith efforts to defuse the matter and if such efforts fail an emergency meeting of the Peace Council is to be convened. Where such efforts fail or are unsuccessful, the community agrees to call in the Peace Management Initiative to facilitate their discussion.

We agree to play our part this 24th day of June 2008 at the Mona Bowl August Town, St. Andrew.

Signed By:

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Name:
Corner: African Gardens (Vietnam)

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Name:
Corner: Jungle 12

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Name:
Corner: Gold Smith Villa (Gola)

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Name:
Corner: Colour Red (Judgement Yard)

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Name:
Corner: Bedward Gardens (River)

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Name:
Corner: Peace Management Initiative

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Name:
Corner: August Town Minister’s Fraternal

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Name:
Corner: University of the West Indies

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Name:
Corner: August Town Sports and Community Development Foundation

أغسطس - آب مدينة سلام معاهدة [يصدّ المدّ و جزر العنف في جامايكا]
Automatically translated into Arabic thanks to WorldLingo
أغسطس - آب مدينة لمدّة خمس سنوات سلام إتفاق

 يكون كلّيّا محترمة من أغسطس - آب مدينة جماعة رغبة قوّيّة لسلام

 منتبهة إلى الحاجة الأطفال لبيئة آمنة [إين وردر تو] استلمت تربية مناسبة وطوّرت هم مواهب

 يقنع أنّ احتمال من الإعتقاد من واحدة آخر الطريق أن يكون يتبع

 ينظر إلى الأمام إلى التزويد الخطط يكون يسحب بالجامعة من [وست ينديس] لأغسطس - آب مدينة أن يكون جامعة مدينة

 واعية من إلتزاماتنا إلى ال يوسع مجتمعة وإدراكاتهم حول المستويات عال جريمة في أغسطس - آب مدينة

 يصدق أنّ قد ثبت المبلغة الحيوات يخسر على المتأخّرة 15 سنون واجبة إلى مجموعة عنف إلى الخلف الاجتماعيّة وتطور اقتصادي من الجماعة.

 توّاقة أن يقلّل المعدّل البطالة في الجماعة ب يسمح أشخاص إلى بحرّيّة وبأمان تحرّكت حوالي أو تركت الجماعة إلى [سك] وظيفة.

يوافق نحن الزعيمات وممثلات من المختلفة أركان أو أقسام من أغسطس - آب مدينة, [إين سبيت وف] فروقنا من أنواع مختلفة, بهذا رسميّا أن يضع نهاية إلى كلّ مجادلات ونزاعات لفترة من 5 سنون ونحن يبدون القواعد أنّ سيحكم التصرّف إداريّ من هذا إتفاق.

نحن ندخل داخل هذا إتفاق بين بنفسي ومع تواقيعنا كزعيمات والتواقيع من أساسيّة [ستكهولدر] ومؤيدات من سلام وتطوير لأغسطس - آب مدينة.

قواعد من اللمدّة خمس سنوات سلام إتفاق

1. كلّ زعيمات ينبغي كنت صادقة مع بعضهم بعضا: كلمتك كلمتك.

2. هناك أن يكون [فر موفمنت] من كلّ أشخاص عبر كلّ حدود وأركان [رغردلسّ وف] سمعة أو إنتساب إلى ركن خاصّة.

3. مسدّس مدفع ليسوا أن يكون لوّحت - هم ينبغي لا يكون رأيت [أت ني تيم].

4. هناك ينبغي كنت ما من تخويف أو تهديد إلى أشخاص من أيّ ركن.

5. ما من مسدّس مدفع تحية أو أيّ أخرى أشكال من يقذف أن يتمّ في الجماعة لفترة من على الأقلّ 5 سنون.

6. يتلقّى زعيمات زاويّة مسؤولية أن يرشد وإستشارة أعضاء زاويّة بعيدا من عنف محلّية, إختلاس, ابتزاز, [كرنل بوس], عمليّة اغتصاب وأخرى خاطئة يتمّ.

7. إحترام واحتمال ينبغي كنت أبديت للإعتقاد سياسيّة من أخرى.

8. ما من شخص سوفت كنت انتقدت, أسءت أو علمت ك "مخبرة".

9. سلام مجلس مع ممثلات من كلّ ركن أن يكون أسّست وسيلتقي شهريّا أن يراقب إلتزام إلى هذا قواعد والتطوير ودرجة حرارة من الجماعة. السلام سيراجع إتفاق كنت [إفري سإكس مونثس] في اجتماع من المجلس ومفتاح [ستكهولدر]. هو أيضا توقّعت أنّ سيحسن القدرة من مجلس أعضاء أن يعالج مع نزاعات كنت بتدريب يستلم في المناطق من توسط, نزاع قرار, حالة إدارة [إتك.].
10. إن هذا إتفاق يكون انتهكت, يرتكب الزعيمات من الأركان يتضمّن بهذا أن يجعل [غود فيث] جهود أن يعطّل الأمر وإن هذا جهود [فيل] طارئ اجتماع من السلام مجلس يكون أن يكون اجتمعت. حيث هذا جهود يفشلون أو يكون فاشلة, يوافق الجماعة إلى دعوة في السلام إدارة مبادرة أن يسهّل نقاشتهم.

نحن نوافق أن يلعب جزءنا هذا [24ث] يوم يونيو - حزيران 2008 في [مونا] قصع أغسطس - آب مدينة, [ست.] أندرو.

يقع جانبا:

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اسم:
ركن: [أفريكن] حدائق (فييتنام)

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اسم:
ركن: دغل 12

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اسم:
ركن: نوع ذهب [سميث] دار ([غلا])

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اسم:
ركن: لون أحمر (حكم فناء)

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اسم:
ركن: [بدورد] حدائق (نهر)

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اسم:
ركن: سلام إدارة مبادرة

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اسم:
ركن: أغسطس - آب مدينة وزيرة أخويّة

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اسم:
ركن: جامعة من [وست ينديس]

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اسم:
ركن: أغسطس - آب مدينة رياضات وجماعة تطوير أساس

The European Partnership Agreement possesses the ability to seriously handicap the economies of the Caribbean & ACP countries. Notwithstanding, several Caribbean heads of state have signed to this agreement without informing citizens of the implications of this "deal". In light of this, a good friend of mine, Andrew O'Kola, a law student in the UK, has started a petition titled "EPA A Bad Deal for the Caribbean". I implore my fellow young leaders to become informed about the EPA and to sign this petition as it signals that all is not yet lost. Attatched below is the rationale behind the petition:

'BAD DEAL FOR CARIBBEAN'

There is a lot of potential to really make a positive difference to The Caribbean’s vulnerability and its economic prospects, and there is still time to do so. It is with this in mind that I take this opportunity to urge all members and friends of the region to use our collective will to impress upon our Regional Leaders not to sign the present deals being offered under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), on 30th June, 2008 as to do so is to commit the Region’s economy to a catastrophic future.

The analysis carried out by Oxfam entitled, “Partnership or Power Play?’ has indicated that unless the deal is overhauled this agreement will do irrevocable damage to the development prospects of some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world including those of the Caribbean. These deals have strayed from the development template they were suppose to follow and it is now in the best interest of the Caribbean and other members of the ACP to hold out for a better deal.

The cost to these already over-burden countries will be enormous: annual losses from tariff, the loss of independent trade policy and very limited scope to retain any protection highlights the pending cataclysmic consequences of signing-on to EPA in its present form.

The analysis highlighted further weakness in the offer as follows:

o The deals create significant barriers to integration between existing regional partner countries and in several instances fragment existing regional bloc.

o The offer fails to tackle food insecurity, though allowing some amount of protection. However, the weak safeguards in the deals unnecessarily exposed our small-scale farmers to sudden surge in competition from imports which have the effect of undermining our staple food market.

o The deals only make it slightly easier for the Caribbean and other ACP countries to export to Europe. In return, these countries are required to dramatically open their markets to imports from Europe. Nevertheless, Europe is set to open up to other developing countries which would make the immediate gains temporary.

o The Offer fails to support innovation as stricter intellectual property rules undermine access to knowledge and there exist a toothless commitment to technology transfer.

o The deals tie the hands of the Caribbean and other ACP government to make it harder to manage investment in the Public’s Interest.

o The deals severely constrain effective regulation and threaten universal access to vital services.

Ministers, MPs, trade, and development experts and academics from all over especially from within the African, Caribbean and Pacific region have all questioned the current approach.

The EPA negotiations started six years ago and involved 76 countries from the ACP region which includes the Caribbean, as at December 2007 only a mere 35 countries initialled the document let alone signed-on to it.

The spirit in which the initial discussions on EPA were conducted must be fully reflected in the deals presently on the table for consideration. If we accept that we should be masters of our own destiny then we will equally have to accept that the world owes us no obligations.

Notwithstanding, in a fair world and in a fair deal, Europe would fully open its markets to all exports without demanding reciprocation. It would give developing countries the policy freedom to govern in the public interest and pursue regional integration on their own terms. And it would assist these countries to become more competitive, generate decent jobs and access new technologies. However, rather than reflecting the development needs of the Caribbean and other ACP countries, the texts tend to reflect negotiating capacity and EU interests.

With the rapid growth of emerging markets as a source of investment and trade it is an inopportune time to lock the region into a bad deal with Europe.

What is urgently required before the Region’s Leaders signs EPA are listed but not limited to the following:

• A thorough independent evaluation of what has been initialled.

• Adaptation of existing EU preference schemes to ensure that the Caribbean is not left worse off if it doesn’t conclude an EPA.

• Renegotiation of problematic aspects of the initialled deals.

• Full consultation with all affected parties including workers, producers and businesses.

• Vigorous engagement by parliaments to allow for full scrutiny of the deals.

In the course of negotiation we can accept that well-intentioned deals may be badly designed, let us now take a fresh look at these deals as we cannot afford for our leaders to get this wrong.

Please sign and forward this petition now, as time is not on our side.

The above petition can be signed at
www.ipetitions.com/petition/ja...

Feel free to contact me at andrew@okola.co.uk.
Andrew O’Kola