18 December 2012 - To continue strengthening rule of law institutions, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) funded and facilitated skills training for prison officers in El Fasher, North Darfur.

On 17 December, a total of 16 prison officers concluded a six-month vocational training in masonry, welding, metal works, auto mechanics and electrical systems. The participants will later train prisoners in these skills, which would help them to reintegrate in their communities. In addition, 10 other staff benefitted from basic and advanced computer literacy programmes to enable them to support the prisons operations in data management system. 

During the graduation ceremony, a UNAMID representative, Hastings Amurani-Phiri, expressed the Mission’s commitment to continue its collaboration with the State Prisons Administration to achieve its goals and mandate, and to enhance its capacity to reach international standards.

Also, UNDP rehabilitated and equipped a legal aid office in El Fasher, the first of its kind in the region, which will coordinate legal support to prison inmates, while UNAMID Prisons Advisory Unit trained three paralegals to serve in the facility.

To date, the Mission has trained more than 300 prison officers in the State, in an effort to build the capacity of local prisons authorities and to equip them with skills and knowledge on human rights and prison management.