THE Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) on Tuesday launched its mentoring programme which will provide mentors for at-risk youths in 12 communities in the parishes of Kingston, St Catherine, Clarendon and St James.

Scarlette Gillings, JSIF’s managing director, said the objective of this intervention is to register 180 Jamaican mentors, especially males, and pair them with young persons between the ages of 13 and 19 years.

“The programme will enable mentors to provide guidance, counselling, advice and positive direction to the youth of today, who are the leaders of tomorrow,” Gillings said at the launch on the lawns of Jamaica House in Kingston.

The programme forms part of the Inner City Basic Services Project (ICBSP) – a five-year initiative backed by a US$29.3-million investment from several entities.

To be a mentor, one must have a stable job, be over the age of 21, and be an upstanding character who is committed to devoting time to the mentee for at least one year.

“Our youth, in particular, are being taken down the wrong road and many of their lives are being destroyed, and it’s simply because they don’t have role models,” Reverend Al Miller, who gave the keynote address, told the Observer.

“If a youth can sit with someone who he feels cares, someone who he can share with and be able to open up on the issues of their own lives and be channelled or guided in the right direction, it is most powerful for young people,” he said, adding that “if people commit to it and the mentors come and join the mentees, I think the impact can be tremendous”.

Of the 12 communities chosen, four are in Kingston, namely Federal Gardens, Dunkirk, Jones Town, and Whitfield Town.

The programme will also be implemented in the Central Village, Shelter Rock, Africa (March Pen), Knollis and Lauriston communities of St Catherine, as well as Bucknor, Clarendon and Flanker in St James.

Jamal Tugman, a 22-year-old University of the West Indies student, was among those who signed up as mentors on Tuesday.

“Being from an inner-city community myself, and a poor background, if I had somebody to assist me while growing up, it would have made my life much easier,” he said.

“I believe that the programme will help to lower the crime rate as well,” he added.

Rev Al Miller, in the meantime, made it clear that the programme was not a cure all for the issues affecting the youths.

“We are not, by any means, suggesting that the problems that these young people have are going to be solved by the process because there are other supporting elements that are absolutely essential, but this will be a piece of the pie, a crucial piece,” he said.