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Penal Reform International in the Middle East and North Africa, in partnership with the Penitentiary and Reintegration Administration Algeria, and supported by the British embassy in Algiers, has been delivering capacity building interventions to prison staff on the principles of strategic planning and implementation methodologies. These interventions are part of a broader project funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office aiming to promote strategic planning principles within the prison directorate’s management and equip prison staff with tools to safeguard human rights in the Algerian criminal justice system.

Algeria is going through a period of transition and there is a need to build trust between the formal justice sector, law enforcement institutions and citizens. This project is designed in response to this current political situation, while also building on previous actions implemented by PRI in the region and with the aim of supporting national efforts to defuse tension and avoid conflict and destabilisation. This involves strengthening the capacity of law enforcement institutions, including the criminal justice system, PRI’s area of intervention.

To this aim, two workshops were delivered in January attended by 50 strategic planning officers and directors of the Penitentiary and Reintegration Administration Algeria in the governorate of Bejaia.

The curriculum included developing mechanisms to monitor risk indicators, identifying staff tasks to facilitate internal and external audits, and applying follow-up procedures to ensure that the strategic objectives of the administration are achieved. As a result, prison directorates in Algeria are now better able to bring their managerial procedures in line with international human rights standards.