HF II Albania - Enhancing the protection of Human Rights for prisoners

Building upon the results achieved from the implementation of the first phase of European Union and Council of Europe programmatic framework “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey” (Horizontal Facility), the new Action “Enhancing the protection of human rights of prisoners in Albania” assisted the Albanian authorities to further enhance prison reform and the protection of the human rights of prisoners. It was implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate General of the Prison Administration and with other relevant institutions and stakeholders, including civil society organisations active in the penitentiary field.

The Action covered four main areas:

Introduction of the effective human resources and sustainable training programme for prison management;
Strengthening the provision of health care to prisoners with a particular focus on detainees with mental disorders and the implementation of suicide prevention strategy;
Strengthening the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners with a particular focus on the implementation of a standard system of risk management;
Improvements in the treatment of vulnerable groups of prisoners, in particular high risk /violent prisoners, sex offenders and female prisoners.

The Action was completed on 31 December 2022, with an overall budget of 640,000 EUR.

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Back Albanian prison professionals are capacitated to develop suicide prevention plans for prisoners at risk

@ Council of Europe

Through an in-depth 2-day training, Albanian prison staff were capacitated to better respond to incidents of suicide and self-harm in prisons.

On 21-22 February 2022, 25 professionals, coming from the Tirana women prison “Ali Demi”, Durres prison (special facility for prisoners with mental health disorders) and Lezha prison (section responsible for psychiatric forensic patients), gathered in Tirana for a training which focused on early detection of suicidal tendencies amongst prisoners and undertaking measures to prevent them from self-harming.

To respond to beneficiaries needs, the training largely focused on the discussion of the current practices in Albanian prisons, especially concerning those prison facilities where prisoners with mental health disorders are accommodated. As a result, participants increased their knowledge of relevant Council of Europe standards and enhanced their skills related to immediate reaction to incidents and development of multidisciplinary treatment plans. The cooperation between security staff and rehabilitation staff, the role of case-managers and the necessity of operational protocols were among the topics covered at the training.

This activity was organised within the scope of the action “Enhancing the protection of human rights of prisoners in Albania”, as a part of joint initiative of the European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.

Albania 24 February 2022