Expert working group met in Banja Luka on 3 December to evaluate and analyse the impact of mechanisms piloted in two prisons in Bosnia and Herzegovina for recognizing stress and workplace burnout among prison employees.

During October and November, prisons in Zenica and Foča conducted training sessions for prison staff on stress and workplace burnout, along with effective coping techniques, in line with Guidelines for Prevention, Recognition, and Intervention for improving the mental health and wellbeing of prison staff working with violent extremist prisoners and other prisoners vulnerable to radicalization.

The main driving force in preventing and combating radicalisation and extremism inside prisons is their staff. Therefore, investing in human potential, providing a system of professional development as well as protecting well-being and mental health of staff is crucial for ensuring effective rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremist prisoners and other inmates vulnerable to radicalisation, and with that ensuring secure prisons.

It is with this idea in mind that the Council of Europe for the first time focused on strengthening well-being and mental health of prison staff in Bosnia and Herzegovina working with these high-risk categories of prisoners by developing guidelines with proposed internal and external mechanisms of support in relation to prevention, detection, and intervention measures.

Prison staff from different departments who attended the workshops expressed the need to continue working on this matter and establish different mechanisms, but also to work on overcoming the stigma that surrounds mental health.

The working group, consisting of professionals from Bijeljina, Zenica, Banja Luka, State prison, and the three justice ministries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reviewed the outcomes of the piloting phase and agreed on the next actions for ensuring support to prison staff and adequate institutional responses for improving their well-being and mental health. The participants agreed that continued efforts are needed in this regard and expressed their appreciation to the Council of Europe for its support.

This activity was implemented under the framework of the Council of Europe action “Ensuring Sustainable Penitentiary Actions in managing rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ESPA-VEP)” funded under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.