On 23-24 July 2016 the Council of Europe (CoE) has organised a working group meeting for the newly appointed coordinators and members of the Suicide Prevention Council. This was the first working meeting of the Council after the Suicide Prevention Programme was adopted by Order of the Minister for Corrections and Probation. 

At the meeting, the new members of the Council and suicide programme coordinators took stock of the current situation in prisons, identified the future steps needed to reinforce suicide prevention activities, and analysed the best ways of implementing the new regulation.

CoE, in partnership with the European Union, has been supporting introduction and successful implementation of suicide prevention programme in prisons since its launching in 2013. International and local professionals have assisted the development of the programme from the outset, and reviewed the documents of the Suicide Prevention Programme in light of the European standards and best practices.

CoE experts also developed a tailor-made programme and methodology for the preparation of the future trainers. Almost 800 medical and non-medical prison staff members, including prison directors, deputy directors and chief doctors learnt more about suicide prevention activities, suicide management techniques and can more effectively contribute to reduce the number of suicide cases in prisons.

_{This activity will be organised within the framework of the CoE/EU Eastern Partnership Programmatic Cooperation Framework Project “Human Rights and Healthcare in prisons and Other Closed Institutions in Georgia II”.}