KSAAF is a voluntary group that grew out of the UNDP supported Civic Dialogue initiative in November 2004. The Dialogue process facilitated the voices of and gave support to a variety of community development social activists that came together with the agenda for “better communities, better Jamaica”, with the support of partners. KSAAF is a unique group by virtue of our proven ability to provide a non-partisan community voice, and to bring together persons/communities of different political, social and economic persuasions and have earned the trust of our member communities. The group comprises is of persons from fifty-three (53) urban communities across the Kingston Metropolitan Region (KMR) and (recently) St. Catherine.

KSAAF is empowered by a workforce of employees, volunteers and its governance structure. The management structure comprises of the elected officer Core and other Board members. KSAAF facilitates leadership development through the training of leaders from local communities in conflict resolution and community development strategies. To date, KSAAF has coordinated the training for members in 35 communities, in numerous areas, such as youth leadership, capacity building, administration, facilitation, mediation, and career guidance. We reinforce the work of our employees and Board members by providing training for continued professional and personal development as such making them prepared to handle the challenges and become facilitators themselves in the communities they serve.

KSAAF also focuses on planning of social development programmes and managing the work of our Zone Officers who are Community Development Practitioners in the communities. KSAAF also plans, organizes and participates in the activities designed for the communities. There are other programmes with specific focus which encourages and facilitates corporation and interaction from people in communities of various interests who might not have met on a mutual understanding otherwise. These programmes include the Peace Cup, Guns off the Street Campaign, Town Hall Meetings, High Grade, Summer Camps, Facilitating the training of persons with HEART Trust and Facilitating placement of National Youth Service Participants. The Business Center is the business arm of KSAAF which provides technology related services. These services include the design and sale of all forms of printed material such as clothes, calendar, badge, Ids, photocopy, documents, scanning, programmes and Cyber café among other options. The Business center is intended to raise funds to subsidize the salaries and other costs of the individuals employed to KSAAF.

Why KSAAF

The Kingston & St. Andrew Action Forum is comprised of approximately 51 Organization members (CDC & CBOs), 41 Individual members and 4 Supporting members throughout Kingston, St. Andrew (both urban and rural communities), and St. Catherine. In addition to these 2 members there are volunteers, Business Partners and customers who frequently access the services of KSAAF. Each CDC and CBO has a representative group in their respective communities therefore the membership of these groups varies in numbers. KSAAF pays an important facilitator role in communities as it assists its members and other interested community members in job placement, placement in educational institutions, skills training, providing training in various social intervention matters and it has access to its members. The fundamental objective of KSAAF is in capacity building and community development.

The challenges and responsibilities we attend to, KSAAF has created several functional groups which are managed by volunteers from various economic and social background. These groups are as follows:

Youth Arm
Women’s Action Forum
Men’s Action Forum
Senior Citizens Association
Education and Training
Finance Committee
Projects & Fundraising
Sports, Culture & Entertainment

Family Affairs

 The Director of the Youth, Women‟s Directorate, Men for Action Jamaica and Senior Citizens together form the Family Affairs Unit of KSAAF. This Unit focuses on family oriented activities, holistic community development projects, community outreach and training. Training is focused on Parenting, Grooming, Academic & Skills Training, Role of Male & Female in Family Life among other areas. Each has a representative on the Board to represent their group.

Kingston & St. Andrew Action Forum (KSAAF) Youth Organization The KSAAF aims at targeting young people, aged 14 to 32 years old. Our primary goal is to ensure that the issues of our youth are brought to the fore for the continued development and upward mobility of youth in Kingston & St. Andrew, and by extension Jamaica. We exist to work in sync with the KSA Action Forum, while advocating the cause of our youth.

Our Objectives Our main objective is to be an integral part in the positive development of our youth, so as to ensure that our young people contribute significantly to the continued upward mobilization of our nation. Hence, building positive SOCIAL ties among young people, guidance through EDUCATION and addressing ECONOICAL concerns are pivotal aspects of our existence. Striving for growth: Socially, Physically, Educationally and Financially.

Guidance

A Youth Director: This is a leader who provides guidance to the youth arm. The Youth Director is assigned to the KSAAF Youth Arm to help to foster the development of the youths and steer their energies in a positive direction. The Youth Director sits on the Board of KSAAF and is assigned by the Board of KSAAF. Education Intervention

 Partnership with the Citizenship Education Programme (CEP)/Education Transformation Team (ETT) to ensure that our young people are properly sensitized in good citizenry.

 Lobby for an increased number of secondary & tertiary scholarships be made available to marginalized progressive young people.

 Lobby for alternative educational mechanisms be put in place and made more accessible to those who require technical training.

 Lobby for increased resources be made available to early childhood education.

Social Intervention Taking into consideration the varied personalities we will encounter, our social programmes will be diversely structured. Based on the fact that our ultimate aim is to “pull” young people together, ensuring teamwork and collectivity, we‟ll have to establish effective and efficient cell groups and form a network with already established youth organizations. Similar to CDCs, the aim is to encourage youth organizations in various communities to collaborate on varied activities.

Economic Intervention Like the rest of the world and the pending full implementation of the CSME concept and the implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). One of our mandates is facilitating the educational process that surrounds self-employment (entrepreneurship).

 Proper educational background + social skills = economic success

 Positive attitude + the drive to succeed = economic success

Activities The KSAAF Youth Organization meets every Tuesday at the KSAAF Office in Cross Roads. We are a recognized institution by the Government of Jamaica through the National Centre for Youth Development and have been granted delegate status by the said organization, thus, being able to nominate and participate in the process of electing Officers to the National Youth Council of Jamaica. Our outreach work varies and is linked to existing mentorship programmes, as we continuously seek to offer voluntary services in various sectors. In essence, the KSAAF Youth Organization is the premier Community-Based youth advocacy group in Kingston & St. Andrew.

 Jamaica for the Unliftment of Senior Citizens

Kingston & St. Andrew Action Forum Senior Citizens This group attends to assisting senior citizens as best as we possibly can. The mental and physical health need of these persons demand attention and as of such KSAAF provides a supportive role to these persons. Our goal is to decrease the senior citizens‟ sense of isolation and uselessness by incorporating them in activities which they may not normally do and providing aid where possible for them to function. As people spend more of their active life in retirement, we recognize the need for the support of retired people in their pursuit of hobbies, leisure activities and education. We try to get the senior citizens involve in our training sessions and classes and allow them to learn with everyone else. We assist the senior citizens to obtain important documents that they may normally have difficulty to acquire. These may include their identification card, bus card and assist them with basic amenities and their hygiene.

 Education & Training

Training KSAAF will be an intermediary with institutions on behalf of individuals who are in need of education and training, with a special emphasis on:

a) At risk, unattached and marginalized youth (ages 15-29)

b) Unemployed youth and adults living in volatile areas

c) Women

KSAAF is actively involved in training members in Information Technology, Parenting, Remedial Education, Spanish and Skills Training areas for employment. However, the organization would like to systematize and expand operations to cover all its representative communities. To date, KSAAF has coordinated the training for members in 35 communities, in numerous areas, such as youth leadership, capacity building, administration, facilitation, mediation, and career guidance. This included the coordination of sponsorships for the members interested in attending Easter Mennonite University (EMU), for specialized courses in Peace Building. EMU is located in Harrisonburg, VA, USA. Additionally, KSAAF currently have a MOU with the International University of the Caribbean (IUC), in which they are put together tailored programme in community development for KSAAF and its members. KSAAF also plans to facilitate the training of community leaders in Community Based Organizational Management, such as:

a) How to set up a Community Development Council (CDC)

b) Strategic Planning

c) Presentation Skills

d) Proposal Writing

e) Management Skills

KSAAF has also coordinated the training for members in 35 communities, in numerous areas, such as youth leadership, capacity building, administration, facilitation, mediation, and career guidance. KSAAF has MOU with HEART Trust NTA to facilitate in providing job placement,National Youth Service to train the interns with KSAAF with professional and life skills and Venezuelan Institute of Culture (VIC) to teach our members Spanish at the VIC.

Education through Advocacy

Since its creation, KSAAF has positioned itself as a voice for the marginalized communities of Kingston & St. Andrew. Its wide and established network reaches to the most volatile of communities, across politically motivated boundaries. This strength is well known, and because of this advantage, KSAAF members are asked to comment on issues on government related matters, private sector and civil society. In 2005, KSAAF shared their collective voice by making a presentation to Parliament on that year‟s budget. KSAAF also represented its member communities at the Peace and Justice Conference, held in May 2007. KSAAF has also established strategic relationships with other community advocacy groups, such as Jamaicans for Justice, Crime Observer, Women‟s Media Watch, Partners for Peace, and Hands Across Jamaica.