Minister of Justice and Minister in the Office of the Attorney General, the Honourable Devesh Maharaj, has called for a more comprehensive strategy to address the evolving nature of transnational crime in the region, speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the EL PAcCTO 2.0 Regional Workshop on The Role of Women in Organised Crime in the Caribbean, held Tuesday, July 28.
EL PAcCTO, the European Programme of Assistance to Combat Corruption and Organised Crime in Latin America hosted the workshop in collaboration with the European Union and regional partners.
In his remarks, Minister Maharaj advocated for a more nuanced approach to better understand the root causes, social drivers, and specific ways women are impacted by and drawn into organised crime.
He emphasised that developing sustainable solutions to organised crime requires a balanced framework one that rigorously tackles criminal operations while remaining deeply sensitive to the needs, protection, and rehabilitation of victims of crime.
The workshop brought together security officials, legal experts, and policymakers from across the Caribbean and Latin America, aiming to strengthen partnerships on justice and security by building more effective, transparent, and rights-based criminal justice systems.
According to the Ministry, EL PAcCTO continues to foster international cooperation between the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean, working to strengthen justice systems, reinforce the rule of law, and bolster security across participating nations.
The opening ceremony was attended by Her Excellency Ambassador Cécile Tassin, Ambassador of the European Union to Trinidad and Tobago; Her Excellency Ambassador Cristina Pérez Gutiérrez, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain; and Nuno Costa, Deputy Director of the EU-funded EL PAcCTO 2.0 programme, alongside Minister Maharaj and other officials and delegates.