Three specific treatment programmes (modules) for vulnerable categories of sentenced persons have been developed under the scope of the Action “Strengthening the protection of the rights of sentenced persons”. These offender behavior programmes, aiming at enhancing prisoners’ rehabilitation and in support to their reintegration in the society, target three categories of prisoners: offenders sentenced to long-term and life imprisonment, sentenced sexual offenders, and women offenders.

Following the completion of the drafting of the treatment modules, they were piloted in the two biggest penitentiary institutions in the country, with main aim to test the applicability of the draft modules in practice and receive feedback from both the facilitators and the prisoners. The piloting of the Module for offenders sentenced to long-term and life imprisonment and the Module for women offenders took place in the prison Idrizovo in the period between 1 May and 15 June 2017, whereas the piloting of the Module for sentenced sexual offenders took place in prison Shtip during the same period. The piloting was carried out by the rehabilitation staff involved in the drafting of the modules and trained on their application, and it was supervised by two international consultants, who conducted on-site visits to few of the sessions.