The aim of the project “Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Civil Monitoring Boards in line with the European Standards”, implemented by the Council of Europe in close cooperation with the civil monitoring boards (CMBs) for prisons and detention houses and the Directorate General of Prisons and Detention Houses (DGPDH), is to strengthen the institutional and operational framework and capacities of the CMBs. The project currently works on ensuring a sustainable training provision for the CMBs that will significantly improve the quality of the civil monitoring system and enhance the capacity, knowledge and skills of CMB members on prison monitoring, aligning it with European best practices.
In that direction, following a transparent procedure, 8 (eight) Universities across Turkey were selected. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on setting-up regional training capacities has been signed between the DGPDH and the following universities:
- Dokuz Eylül University
- Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University
- Gaziantep University
- Hacı Bayram Veli University
- İstanbul University
- Kocaeli University
- Özyeğin University
- TOBB University of Economics and Technology
The universities will have active role in developing the training curricula and materials for the CMB members and delivering the cascade training sessions in their respective region. The cooperation between the DGPDH and the universities will also pave the way for raising public awareness on the role and responsibilities of the CMBs, thus increasing understanding of their mandate and how they can best assist prisoners and citizens in the country. The universities, serving as regional training facilitators and coordinators, will also benefit from the training package by offering it as part of their curricula, thus even further maximizing the outreach by spreading the importance on conducting human rights compliant prison monitoring among their students.
The Project is co-funded by Sweden, Switzerland, the Republic of Turkey, the Human Rights Trust Fund (HRTF) and Canada. The project will support the training development and dissemination, both financially and technically, until project’s completion foreseen for 31 May 2022.
The HRTF brings together seven contributors: Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
