International Developments
Select your area of interest:
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AFRICA
Freedom, Justice, Equality and Dignity - an e-book, used by International CURE, which provide evaluations, recommendations, surveys, country assessments, multi-country analysis* and additional resources on African prisons, specifically within the following countries:
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Cameroon D.R. Congo |
Mali Gambia Ghana |
Senegal |
Multi-Country-Analysis*: International CURE offers an analysis in the FJE&D e-book, which summarizes results of 14 country-assessments that were generated in African countries. The analysis highlights five key problems and provides reform recommendations for each of the areas addressed. The recommendations are drawn primarily from the Kampala, Kadoma, Lilongwe, and Ouagadougoa African prison reform conferences.
Kenya
Prison Service - Kenya's penal system is dedicated to justice and rehabilitation. The rehabilitative process includes a Strategic Plan which offers various vocational programs, including Remote Parenting that allows unrestricted time between parents and children.
Botswana
Rehabilitation Programs - Need assessments are conducted for prisoners by case worker upon admittance to correctional facilities to determine the appropriate program area, which range from vocational training to prisoner farming programs.
Namibia
Ministry of Prisons and Correctional Services - The Nambian government reformed its penal system to include the rehabilitation and reintegration of the incarcerated, under Act 17 of 1998. The system's structure was reformed by clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of its divisions under the Ministry of Prisons.
South Africa
Correctional Programmes Targeting Offender Behaviour - The Republic of South Africa seeks to correct the behaviors of offenders through personal accountability and by active participation in need-based programs. The South African Department of Correctional Services addresses programming, program standards, monitoring and evaluation, implementation and the establishment of a Quality Assurance Committee to coordinate needed programs.
Swaziland
Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs - Swaziland's has restructured its prison system of firm punishment to a system that has embodied a rehabilitative pathway by offering offender programs and services to aid in behavioral change and community transition.
Tanzania
Probation and Community Service Department - The department monitors probationers, parolees, the community service program and prisoners under the Extra Mural Penal Employment Scheme. Community service is used as an incarceration alternative to eligible offenders whose imprisonment sentence is three years or less.
Uganda
Prison Service - The vision of the Uganda Prison Service is "to be a centre of excellence in providing Human Rights based correctional services in Africa."
China
Hong Kong Correctional Services: Rehabilitation - Hong Kong’s rehabilitative approach offers discharged inmates halfway house services but also include outreach ranging from religious services to community engagement. Read the article on the new Lai Chi Rehabilitation Centre (LCRC) that became fully operational May, 25, 2009 in Hong Kong, China.
Community Involvement - Hong Kong Correctional Services turn toward the community to support the rehabilitative efforts of inmates by engaging communities and NGOs through various outreach channels.
Prisoners' Education Trust Fund - The trust fund provides financial assistance to individual prisoners seeking external education, testing or study materials.
Singapore
Yellow Ribbon Project - A community based projected erected by the Community Action for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (CARE) Network to create awareness, raise community support and acceptance of ex-offenders by giving second chances.
Israel
A Scout Troop in a Juvenile Prison - Eighty-five percent of sentenced and detained Israel youth participate in learning programs at the Ofek Juvenile Maximum Security Prison. The Israel Scouts, a leading program at the facility, helps to bring "normality" to juveniles, raises morale and prepares youth for release.
Ex Addict Instructors in Drug Treatment Programs -The Israel Prison Service opened the Hermon facility in 1999, a prison dedicated solely to drug treatment. "The treatment concept at the Hermon prison and its method of operation are based on the Therapeutic Community concept, with ex-addicts an integral element of the treatment staff."
National
Interventions for prisoners returning to the community - The Australian Institute of Criminology released a report in 2005 examining the state of Australian intervention services for offenders returning back to their communities. "The report highlights key issues in the management of post release services which may assist in the development of policies and practices to reduce the incidence of recidivism."
Victoria
Community Orders - Offenders can be sentenced to community sanctions: community based, intensive corrections, parole, combined custody and treatment orders.
Neighbourhood Justice Centre (NJC) - A pilot program aimed to encourage community involvement within the justice system developed by the Victorian Department of Justice.
Working with Community Correctional Services - The success of the Community Work Program is based on the effective collaboration between the Community Correctional Services and Community Work Partner Agencies. The Victoria Department of Justice provides guidelines in working with community partners and highlights the work done by offenders on community work orders.
Isle of Man
Isle of Man Probation Service - Their mission is "reducing offending behaviour and protecting victims by undertaking accurate risk assessments, structured supervision and the delivery of high quality reports to the criminal and family courts."
World Health Organization (WHO)
The Health in Prisons fact sheet discusses prison health focusing on communicable diseases, mental health, drug use and overcrowding in European prisons.
NORTH AMERICA (outside the U.S.)
Bahamas
UBPM raffling house to aid Halfway House project - The United Bahamas Prison Ministries will raffle a brand new house in June, 2010. The proceeds will go toward building a halfway house and providing skill development for young men during the "Save Our Nations Youth" campaign.
Canada
Correctional Services of Canada: Community Corrections - Canada views community corrections as a gradual approach to releasing offenders back to their community by conducting need assessment and offering programs.
Waivers, Postponements and Withdrawals: Offenders, Parole Officers and the National Parole Board Perspective - Due to the increase in delays or cancellations of parole reviews the Correctional Services Canada conducted research to determine the cause of the parole review trend. The research report was released in March of 2009.
Women Offender Substance Abuse Programming & Community Reintegration - The 2009 research report provide results of the newly designed multi-leveled Women Offender Substance Abuse Program (WOSAP) created in 2003 by the Correctional Services Canada.
Dominican Republic
Christ Centered Prison Reform Project - Mote International was awarded a three year contract by the Dominican Republic government to provide faith based services to aid in reducing recidivism. .
Peru
Approved legislation will reduce prison cost and overcrowding - In January the Peruvian government passed legislation to release eligible inmates with a sentence of six years or less beginning in July, 2010 to help minimize cost and overcrowding.
International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy - "The International Centre's mission is to improve the quality of justice through reform of criminal law, policy, and practice." The centre in conjunction with the Correctional Services of Canada has undertaken a project to promote sentencing and correctional practices internationally.
International CURE - A membership based organizations dedicated to prisoners' rights who advocates for adequate prisoner resources to assist in successful community reintegration, as well as, using human right documents to hold penal systems accountable for meeting the needs of its prisoners.
5th International CURE World Conference Human Rights and Criminal Justice/Prison Reforms Abuja, the Nigerian Capital February 22-24, 2011 |
Prison Rehabilitation Mission International (PREMI) - A Nigerian-based NGO who is "committed to the physical and psycho-social restoration of the prisons' inmates and ex-convicts. The broad goal is the resettlement and rehabilitation of ex-convicts."
United Nations
International Cooperation for the Improvement of Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, Particularly in Africa - The United Nation's Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution requesting the United Nation's Office of Drugs on Crime to provide advisory services to member states, specifically Africa . These services are offered upon request in the areas of penal reform, particularly in "restorative justice, alternatives to imprisonment, and the development of an integrated plan for the provision of legal assistance."
Handbook on Prisoners with Special Needs - The handbook is intended for those practitioners and stakeholders interested in prison reform by addressing the needs of eight special need groups that require tailored programs and services.
Community Based Treatment: Good Practices Document - The peer reviewed documents were prepared by an international working group from five drug dependence treatment centers as part of the United Nation's Office of Drugs on Crime project GLO/H43 "Treatment - International Network of Drug Dependence and Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres." The working group provides strategies, tools and resources to community based drug treatment.
Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice - A compilation of international standards developed over the last 51 years, which include an emphasis in juvenile justice, alternatives to incarceration, restorative justice and crime prevention as well as other related subjects.
Women in the Criminal Justice System - An international overview of women in the criminal justice system. The research provides information on incarceration trends and factors, statistical facts and incarceration alternatives to reduce women prison populations.
If you have material you would like to see added to this page, contact ICCA at info@iccaweb.org.