Blog

Prison education: university partnerships paving the way to successful reintegration

Educational programmes in prison are ‘generally considered to have an impact on recidivism, reintegration and, more specifically, employment outcomes upon release’ (Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Muñoz). Nina Champion, Head of Policy at Prisoners’ Education Trust, looks at the importance of prison education and the increase in and impact of prison university partnerships […]

Nina Champion9th January 2018

How social franchise can support women on probation

Social franchises are increasingly being used and recognised as a tool to quickly and effectively create sustainable impact. But their potential to support probation and reintegration of former prisoners has not yet been fully explored. We take a look at what social franchises, penal systems and sanitary towels have in common. “In several African countries […]

Adam Boxer8th May 2017

10 lessons on improving alternatives to prison in East Africa

In 2014, PRI embarked on an innovative two-year pilot project in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to improve access to justice by targeting the development of community service systems as an alternative to the overuse of imprisonment, funded by UKAID. Omar Phoenix Khan, who led on the project, shares his reflections now the final evaluation is […]

Omar Phoenix Khan23rd November 2016

What can restorative justice offer victims of domestic violence?

The use of restorative justice with victims of domestic violence is much debated. People point to the dangers of re-victimising the victim. Yet often the victims of domestic violence have few choices – prosecuting the perpetrator or simply putting up with the abuse. In this month’s guest blog for PRI, Dr Marian Liebmann, an international […]

Dr Marian Liebmann25th August 2016

Norway: how a partnership with the Salvation Army is helping provide a ‘safer way home’ for foreign national prisoners

Migration across borders is changing our prison populations. Lucy Slade has previously worked as a resettlement mentor manager and has volunteered in London prisons where a large proportion of inmates come from outside the UK. At Lucy’s local prison, HMP Wandsworth, around half of the prison’s 1,600 men are foreign, representing over 70 different countries. […]

Lucy Slade27th May 2016

Prison staff: overworked and underpaid?

Security, prisoner welfare and successful rehabilitation depend to a large degree on well trained prison staff. However, in many countries, the job is low status, badly paid, and recruits receive little training. Prison staffing is the subject of a special feature in PRI’s new Global Prison Trends report. Rob Allen sets out the main points for consideration […]

Rob Allen26th May 2016

Much ado about nothing? The Global Commission on Drug Policy assessment of UNGASS

Pavel Bém is former Mayor of Prague and a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, Czech Republic. Here he gives his assessment of April’s UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem. The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on “the world drug problem” was an important moment for the international […]

Pavel Bém18th May 2016

UNGASS on Drugs: on expectations, coherence and sustainable development

The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) took place New York on 19-21 April. Javier Sagredo is Regional Democratic Governance and Citizen Security Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean for the UN Development Programme (UNDP). In this expert blog for PRI, he examines whether the outcomes of this UNGASS meeting, as well […]

Javier Sagredo, UNDP4th May 2016