The Council of Europe organised an international conference “Vision for Change 2016” in Kyiv on 12-13 October 2016 for prison directors. The main objective of this event was to promote awareness of and foster a discussion about international prison standards, best European practices and approaches in modern prison management in light of the ongoing penitentiary reform.

The conference covered various aspects of prison work such as dynamic security, working with inmates to reduce likelihood of reoffending after release, dealing with prisoners’ complaints as well as challenges in prison staff education and training. The participants also received information on the recommendations of the Council of Europe that should guide the authorities in organising prison life as well as learnt more about the work and standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and its recommendations related to the Ukrainian penitentiary establishments.

The conference was attended by the representatives of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, including the integrated penitentiary service and governors of 150 Ukrainian prisons, civil society and international stakeholders.

This activity was organized in the framework of the EU/CoE Joint Project “Further Support for Penitentiary Reform in Ukraine 2015-2017”, which is funded through the CoE/EU Programmatic Cooperation Framework for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.