05. March 08
Tomorrow, on 7 March, a meeting will be held in Viru Prison in the framework of the project
The Strengthening of the Estonian Prison System which was cofinanced by Norway. At the meeting the representatives of the Estonian prison system will give an intermediary overview of the current achievements and future steps to the foreign experts and the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.
According to the chairman of the management committee of the project, the Director of the Rehabilitation Division of the Ministry of Justice, Rait Kuuse, the project has two major objectives: to train new prison officials and to reduce the recidivism among imprisoned persons, by helping them acquire the basic management skills that they need.
“In order to fulfil these objectives officials are recruited and trained to start working with young imprisoned persons. In the framework of the programme special social learning programmes will be developed for young imprisoned persons and manuals are prepared both for the imprisoned persons and the officials working with them,” Kuuse said.
Kuuse also added that by now the project activities have been launched and at present training is provided to the third group consisting of officials who have just started working at Viru Prison and who come into direct contact with the imprisoned persons in their everyday work. “The objective of the programme is to train a total number of 150 officials,” said Kuuse.
“The second task – and as important as the first – is to equip the vocational study facilities of Viru Prison. The project will help to obtain the equipment for the prison which is necessary for providing vocational education to cooks and bakers. Many procurements are in progress for obtaining the fittings needed,” explained Rait Kuuse.
The project The Strengthening of the Estonian Prison System was prepared and the financing application was submitted in 2006 and the financing decision was made in autumn 2007. The total cost of the project is 712 672 euros of which 85% is foreign aid and 15% owners’ equity.
The management committee involves many partners in its activities, such as the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Research and a representative of the local government.
In connection with the introductory event of the project the external expert of the project and the representative of the Prisons Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice will come to Estonia to meet the chairman of the management committee and the officials in charge of different parts of the project and to discuss the related issues.
