On 14-18 September 2015, the Council of Europe piloted a personal development programme 'Building on Competences for Prison Managers’ with the participation of governors from six selected prisons (Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Foča, Mostar, Tuzla and Zenica) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The 5-day course was developed and organised within the framework of the US/ CoE project 'Support to prison staff training in Bosnia and Herzegovina' with the aim to assist senior prison managers in improving their managerial and leadership skills specific to the prison environment. 

Continuous improvement of specific skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of prison staff is central to modern prison management. Formal education does not equip prison leaders with the competencies they need to meet the specific requirements and challenges of their workplace. For most of them a main challenge remains how to successfully balance between rapidly changing environment and often limited resources, while maintaining safety and security and ensuring the treatment of prisoners in compliance with the international standards. Competency-based courses such as the piloted one present the most effective approach in development of special expertise of staff at all-level in prison settings.

The development programme is part of a comprehensive Prison Management Programme and has been developed and provided to participants along a Support Manual for Building on Competencies for Prison Managers, pre-course reading material on international human rights standards and after-course project.

The curriculum is structured in five connecting modules covering the competence areas: ethics and values, strategic thinking, problem solving and decision making, managing teams, performance management, interpersonal communication, reporting, managing conflicts and change, as well as self-awareness.

It is expected that 60 prison managers from the six selected prisons will complete the course by the end of 2015.