Niklas Hansson (centre), association export, U.N. Regional Centre for Peace Disarmament and Development in Latin American; David Smith (left) of the UNDP and Folade Mutotam, Women's social development activist, consult at yesterday's Caribbean Regional Clearing House Programme on Firearms Ammunition and Explosive Conference at the Christar Villas, Hope Road, St. Andrew. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

With the country's homicide rate breaking the 1,000 mark last month, several special interest groups, including community leaders and church representatives, have joined with the United Nations to tackle the problem of illegal guns on Jamaica's streets.

The first of a series of three workshops dealing with the problem of small arms in the hands of criminals was held Wednesday at the Christar Hotel and Villa on Hope Road, St. Andrew.

The purpose of the workshops is not to discuss the problem of guns and lament about how bad it is, but to bring together individuals with a common interest and experience to find solutions. This is according to David Smith, programme specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The programme is organised by the U.N. Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament and Develop-ment in Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-LiREC) and will run from November 7-10.

individuals with experience

"We have brought in people with experience from other countries to find out what has worked in those countries, in terms of reducing the amount of small arms, which are readily available and to see what practical things we can do to reduce this," said Mr. Smith.

The workshops are intended to find solutions at different levels, including at the community, government and policy levels. "If you're working in the communities and the Government is not at the top doing everything it can to stop the importation of guns, then it's not going to work," said Mr. Smith.

Meanwhile, the consensus among individuals attending the workshop was that Jamaicans have adopted a culture of acceptance in regards to violence.

"By and large, there's this general acceptance of crime, which I think is the most dangerous thing in Jamaica," said Professor Neville Duncan of the University of the West Indies. "People have modified their behaviour and have lived with crime instead of becoming participatory in trying to restore their community."