Prison staff and probation officers from across North Macedonia further enhanced their knowledge on addressing radicalisation in prisons, through their participation at cascade training sessions, held from 23 to 25 February 2022.

The three 1-day sessions were attended in total by 29 prison police officers and rehabilitation specialists from penitentiary facilities Idrizovo, Skopje, Tetovo, as well as 15 probation officers from the respective offices in Skopje, Kumanovo, Tetovo, and Prilep. Similar to the three previous trainings held in December 2021, the participants improved their skills in applying the existing screening and risk and needs assessment tools, as well as enhanced their understanding of the role of prison staff in identifying signs of radicalisation.

Probation officers benefitted from their participation at a tailored session on their role during the post-release phase, while all the participants exchanged experiences on specific case studies, highlighting the importance of sharing information through the multi-treatment teams. It is expected that these training sessions will further improve the established reporting lines within the penitentiary institutions and with the relevant external stakeholders, both during imprisonment and after release.

This activity was organised under the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the external oversight mechanism in North Macedonia”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022" and implemented by the Council of Europe.