The final Steering Committee meeting of the EU and CoE Joint Project “Further Support to the Penitentiary Reform in Azerbaijan” took place on 28 October 2021.
The meeting brought together 31 participants, including representatives from the national counterparts – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, The Ministry of Justice, the Penitentiary Service (PS) and the Main Medical Department (MMD) of the Ministry of Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Justice Academy, medical and non-medical staff of pilot prisons No. 1, No. 4 and No. 16 as well as from the European Union and the Council of Europe. The representatives of the three NGOs that have implemented within the short timeframe four grants on rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders also took an active part in the meeting.
The results achieved were presented by the Project team, with an emphasis on the mitigating measures taken due to COVID-19 pandemic and accelerated implementation during the project extension period (between February and October 2021). National counterparts gave their positive feedback on the project implementation and stressed the necessity to continue working together in the areas of prison management, prison healthcare and rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners.
Representatives of three NGOs, grantees of the Project, presented their respective activities aiming at assisting reintegration of ex-offenders through vocational training and job placement, business mentoring, legal aid and psycho-social support. They reported on the achievements and stressed the challenges faced, including the expected lack of sustainability upon the completion of the Project.
Ex-offenders who benefited from the Project were invited to share their stories with the Steering Committee members. Their life-changing inspirational stories once more showed the importance of the smooth return of prisoners to society, serving as a message and a red flag on how much can still be done for other prisoners who are entering the reintegration rehabilitation phase of their prison sentence.
This activity was organised by the European Union and Council of Europe Joint Project "Support to the Penitentiary Reform in Azerbaijan" (JP SPERA-2), which is designed to promote effective prison management, healthcare in prisons and assist the reintegration of ex-offenders.