The Heads of Treatment Departments from all 29 Serbian penitentiary institutions convened in Belgrade to enhance the implementation of the existing prisoner treatment programmes and prepare for the rollout of new ones in 2025. The meeting, held as part of the Council of Europe and European Union's “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye,” marks the fourth annual gathering of prison professionals in Serbia.
Through the programme, significant progress has already been made. Over the past two years, five treatment programmes, developed with input from prison treatment staff (psychologists, sociologists, and andrologists), have been implemented across Serbian prisons, supported by the training of more than 200 treatment staff.
The current phase of the action is introducing new programmes to address evolving needs. Among them are initiatives focusing on suicide and self-harm prevention, life skills development for juveniles and adults, empowering women with an emphasis on victims of violence, and assertive communication techniques.
Additionally, in order to ensure a better participation of all prison staff in implementation of the post-release programme on “Specialised and structured treatment and resocialisation of offenders serving long prison sentences (5+ years) “, the Heads of Treatment Departments got acquainted with the programme in detail and received additional instructions for its successful delivery, given its importance and complexity.
The meeting was organised within the framework of the Action “Enhancing the human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Serbia”, as a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, implemented by the Council of Europe.