West Africa

PRI was engaged in activities aimed at improving conditions of detention, reducing prison numbers through the promotion of alternative sentencing and facilitating prisoners’ reintegration within the community.
 
In order to support the effective management of prison administrations, PRI provided specialised training to prison staff and expertise for the revision of prison legislation. PRI delivered training programmes that address all areas of prison management and enhanced national training capacity. Training initiatives were designed to ensure the integration of human rights issues into general prison management practices, develop management and administrative capacity of senior staff and facilitate the implementation of best practice.
 
In order to reduce the prison population, PRI supported the introduction of alternatives to imprisonment, namely community service, in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Senegal. This has been achieved by helping to draft the legislative reforms required to enable the wider use of alternatives to imprisonment. PRI also promoted community service through raising awareness and training activities.
 
As part of PRI’s commitment to improving prison conditions in the region, PRI has helped establish income-generating activities and skills-training workshops for prisoners. This has been undertaken in partnership with local NGOs in Benin and Senegal.