Professionals, stakeholders and key actors in the field of penitentiary and probation in the Western Balkans, but also the general public with interest in the field, can now access the new website/webplatform, covering various aspects of countering violent extremism and radicalisation in prisons. The website and web-platform https://wbregionprisons.coe.int, available in English and the local languages of the Western Balkans, was developed with the support of the EU and the Council of Europe (CoE) joint Horizontal Facility II programme - Regional action “Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons in the Western Balkans”.
The website is open to all visitors and offers a wide array of useful information including an overview of the main tools and documents on radicalisation in prisons and disengagement from violence, produced by the action, as well as reference to relevant legal instruments, CoE publications and links to other institutions and organisations. In addition, the interested audience may find useful materials on different related topics, such as risk and needs assessment of violent extremist prisoners (VEPs), their rehabilitation and reintegration process back into society and capacity building of prison and probation professionals involved in VEPs management.
On the other side, the dedicated web-platform for prison, probation and other professionals from all 6 Western Balkans Beneficiaries working on preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE), is offering them the opportunity to communicate and interact between themselves on regular basis. By granting access to the platform, they will be able to exchange P/CVE related documents, share experiences and practices, hence enhance the regional cooperation and overall security in all 6 Beneficiaries.
The website and the platform https://wbregionprisons.coe.int have been produced within the scope of the Regional action “Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons in the Western Balkans” that is a part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, aiming to assist beneficiaries in South-East Europe to comply with the Council of Europe standards and the European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process, when relevant.
