 ug hosts symposium to address suicide and youth violence ug hosts symposium to address suicide and youth violence ug hosts symposium to address suicide and youth violence webmaster mon 11202017 130 the university of guyana ug in collaboration with the caribbean alliance of national psychological associations canpa today presented a suicide youth violence and professional psychology symposium at the pegasus hotel the allday symposium saw presentations from academics and stakeholders of the education and health sectors on suicide violence and psychology minister within the ministry of public health dr karen cummings stated that the symposium is timely and relevant since it comes at a time when guyana is faced with many social problems this programme will produce highly trained practitioners capable of competently and professionally addressing the variety of mental health issues in order to enhance the lives of those who often times suffer in silence more importantly our new professionals will be able to address the stigma and humiliation to which both victims and family members are subjected by society dr cummings said she reiterated the importance of psychologists in society while noting that she is confident the symposium will lead to the formulation of strategies to advance the study of psychology in guyana today s symposium i am certain will provide a valuable opportunity for psychology professionals from different cultural backgrounds and diverse field to explore the impact of psychology as a field of practice on community and individual mental health care president of canpa professor omwowale marshall noted his satisfaction in partnering with the university and explained the aim of his organisation what we have come to do is to show you an array of glimpses of psychology psychological science and practice so that you can see what our profession can offer guyana professor marshall expressed meanwhile unicef representative paolo marchi said the seminar will assist in the protection of children and pointed out that according to unicef reports the caribbean has one of the highest rates of violence against children in the world according to multiple indicator cluster survey 2014 almost 70 percent of guyanese children have been victims of a form of violence violence often leaves visible scars violence always leaves invisible ones marchi underscored he added today s event not only highlights the gravity of the level of violence including selfharm and suicide but also provides an opportunity for us to know what the trends are what are the emergency issues we must consider and how these issues can be prevented and treated the symposium saw panel discussions on reducing selected risk factors screening to intervene early effective and promising psychological interventions and expressions of youth violence and a professional response article adapted from  http ginagovgy ughostssymposiumtoaddresssuicideandyouthviolence  suicide youth violence unicef canpa ug uog 