Public employment programmes can contribute to crime reduction and violence prevention, by providing income, increasing urban safety activities and improving social cohesion. Offering employment opportunities in high-crime areas reduces the risk of young people becoming involved in criminal activities associated with violence.

This Urban Safety Brief explores the potential of EPWP projects to promote urban safety and prevent violence and offers recommendations for leveraging the potential of the EPWP.

The Urban Safety Reference Group (USRG) is a platform for peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing among practitioners from the SACN participating cities as well as other key government role-players on urban safety and violence prevention. It is convened by the SACN with the support of the GIZ Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention (VCP) Programme. The USRG Urban Safety Briefs are designed to distil the state of current knowledge on urban safety-related topics for a policy and planning audience.