SPPRH - Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova

The Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” (“SPPRH Project”) with the duration of 36 months (March 2021 – February 2024) is funded through and is in line with the strategic priorities for co-operation as formulated in the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova for 2021-2024.

The Project builds on the achievements of the previous Council of Europe Action Plans for the Republic of Moldova, notably, results of the projects implemented between 2015 and 2020, namely, the Programme “Promoting a human rights compliant criminal justice system in the Republic of Moldova” (01 March 2018 – 28 February 2021) and the Project “Support of the Criminal Justice Reforms in the Republic of Moldova” (2015 – 2018). The Project is also focused on further consolidating the achievements of the Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisers to Moldova (NORLAM) activities in country completed in June 2017.

The Project is aimed at supporting the enhancement of the prison management practices, the improvement of the quality of the provision of health care to inmates (including mental health care), supporting the probation in raising its profile, promoting the value of community sanctions and measures among all actors of the criminal justice system and strengthening of treatment programmes and protocols for patients in psychiatric establishments (including forensic patients).

Main intervention areas will cover policy/legal framework, institutional and practical implementation levels, and the expected results of this Project are the following:

Management of prisons is further improved to better support the prisoners’ rehabilitation: integrating modern prison management methodologies and tools, and further increasing the prison staff skills and knowledge on human rights of persons deprived of liberty;
Quality of the provision and organisation of health care services (including mental health care) for inmates are further enhanced in line with European standards: developing specialized tools, policies and improving the material medical conditions in prisons;
Strengthened institutional capacity of Probation Service and multidisciplinary co-operation with other actors through more effective implementation of community sanctions and measures in support of offenders’ social reintegration: strengthening the capacities of Probation to treat medium and high-risk offenders and fine-tuning the inter-institutional cooperation;
Strengthened treatment of patients in psychiatric establishments (including forensic patients) in line with European standards: enhancing the treatment programmes and protocols and improving the knowledge and skills of staff in applying them within multidisciplinary teams.

Project documentation

Useful information

Chisinau office Website
Media corner

project news

Back Professional development course for medical and non-medical staff of the penitentiary system of the Republic of Moldova

A fourteen-weeks’ professional development course for medical and non-medical staff of the prison system of the Republic of Moldova has started on 19 July and finished on 27 October 2021, when, as a result of the course, an overall number of 121 accreditations were issued to medical and non-medical professionals from the prison system.

During three consecutive courses (with the cumulative duration of 90 academic hours) multidisciplinary teams - doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and social assistants improved their knowledge and skills on topics like management of emergencies in public healthcare, quality management in medical institutions and promotion of health, communication and counselling in health care.

The added value of the course is that it has been delivered by an educational institution accredited to provide continuing education based on a curriculum agreed with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Spots as well as with the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the academic credits issued on the grounds of the courses are in line with the national regulations. This factor constitutes a step forward towards aligning the healthcare services provision in prisons to the requirements of the public healthcare services as well as to the Council of Europe recommendations in the field.

It is also worth mentioning, that the content of the professional development courses was adapted to better respond to the peculiarities of heath care provision in prison setting. At the same time, the courses included mandatory topics, aligned to the provisions of some strategic documents, developed with the support of the Council of Europe, like the draft Mental Health Strategy for the prison administration system of the Republic of Moldova for 2021-2023, which is a good indicator of synergy built between different activities.

The training sessions were attended by medical and non-medical staff from all 16 penitentiary institutions of the country as well as from the Prison Hospital, and was delivered by the academia of the School of Management in Public Health under ”N. Testemițanu” Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

The activity is organised under the auspices of the Programme “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova”, financed through the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova (2021-2024).

Moldova 29 October 2021