On 30 May to 1 June, the Secretariat of the Pompidou Group organised in Podgorica an on-site visit in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health of Montenegro.

Within the Pompidou Group’s South-East Europe Cooperation Group on developing comprehensive drug treatment systems in prison, the need for systematised and continuous training on substance use disorders and addictions for Montenegro’s professionals has been identified.

The visit allowed to meet and exchange with Montenegrin policy makers, multidisciplinary staff working in prison with detained people with drug use disorders, professionals from the public health system and civil society representatives on their complex needs.

The aim of the visit was to assess the current training curriculum for prison staff in Montenegro with regard to the care and treatment of incarcerated people with substance use disorders. The recommendations developed as a result of the assessment visit will inform the elaboration of an interdisciplinary training module for prison staff on drug use and addictions, accompanied by training of trainers. Once conceptualised and tested, the module will be presented to the other South-East European countries participating in the cooperation group. It will be put at their disposal to address the general lack of knowledge of correctional staff on drug use and addiction in the region – as identified in the training needs assessment conducted in 2022.