The Government of The Gambia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is in its third year of collaboration with the Rule of Law, Justice, and Security Sector Project (hereinafter, “UNDP RoL Project”). The UNDP RoL project endeavors to implement a holistic and comprehensive program that addresses both the supply and demand sides of justice delivery. The project seeks to strengthen the rule of law institutions to deliver quality services, increase access to justice and empower citizens to exercise their rights.
The UNDP RoL project has completed a series of consultations with the Ministry of Justice, the Judiciary, the Gambia Police Force (hereinafter, “GPF”), the Gambian Prisons Service (hereinafter, the “GPS”), the National Agency for Legal Aid (“NALA”), the ADR Secretariat, the Law School of the Gambia, the Gambia Bar Association and other stakeholders to understand better the issues and challenges for strengthening the rule of law and increasing access to justice. Subsequently, a project document was developed and validated by the Government of the Gambia and its project board has approved the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Annual Work Plans.
The Prison Service is administered under the Prison Act 18 of 1053 with several amendments. The Prison Service is headed by the Director General, who is responsible for the day-to-day operations. The Prisons system has the responsibility to care for a population in confinement under close supervision of the prison officers. In addition, every prison is expected to manage both convicts and remanded inmates in line with the Mandela Rules. As highlighted in the UNDP Rapid Prison Assessment Report of 2019, majority of the prison officers lack the knowledge or capacity to support the inmates and prison service effectively and efficiently as per the Mandela Rules.
The lack of capacity for the prison officers couple with the COVID-19 outbreak posed a significant risk to the health and well-being of both the inmates and prison officials, including visitors to the facilities. In The Gambia, there is a need to capacitate prison officers better to safeguard the prison facilities and the well-being of all personnel while providing adequate care to inmates. The targeted training coupled with other training previously conducted by the Rule of Law Project will increase the capacity of prison officers to ensure they have the necessary ability on COVID prevention and protocol, including compliance with the Mandela Rules.
The training endeavors to improve the health and well-being of personnel and inmates in the prisons, which is a critical prerequisite to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 16, “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”, including Goal 16.6, “Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels” and ensuring that No One is Left Behind.
SCOPE OF WORK
As part of the effort to improve the health and well-being of inmates and increase the capacity of Prison officers to respond effectively to the pandemic, The Gambia Prison Service has requested UNDP to support capacity building of Prison Officers to carry out their duties effectively and efficiently, improve service delivery, specifically in the Janjanbureh prison facility, and to address any health risks to inmates and personnel due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Email subject: Training of Prison Officers
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