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Spotlight
Regional conference on justice-affected women in Africa
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From 18-20 October 2023, PRI in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Uganda Prison Service, Uganda Human Rights Commission, and with financial support from the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France in Uganda, organised a regional conference on the theme ‘Unlocking Barriers: Rights of Women in the Criminal Justice System in Africa’.
Over the three days, 257 delegates representing seven countries from across Africa discussed workable and lasting solutions to ensure gender mainstreaming in criminal justice systems in the African region, and adopted a set of joint recommendations based on best practices from across the region and international standards on the rights of women in the criminal justice system.
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Olivia Rope delivers keynote address at ICPA Annual Conference 2023
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The International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) Annual Conference 2023 was held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 22-27 October 2023, hosted by the Belgian Prison Service. The conference brought together 900 experts from 80 countries on the theme “Humane Corrections: What more can we do“.
PRI’s Executive Director, Olivia Rope, delivered a keynote address setting out key challenges for ensuring humane responses and recommendations for transformative change.
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High level event on implementing the UN Common Position on Incarceration
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On 2 October, a high level event was held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to consider implementation of the UN Common Position on Incarceration. Organised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in collaboration with Permanent Missions, UN agencies and civil society organisations, including PRI, the event examined key themes of the Common Position, including reducing prison populations and the overreliance on incarceration; gender and incarceration; rehabilitation and social reintegration; prison health as public health; and decriminalisation of certain acts.
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Call for input:
Criminalisation of women due to poverty and status
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PRI and Women Beyond Walls are collaborating to map out the criminal laws that target or disproportionately impact women, research on the impact of these laws, and any reform efforts. The findings will be published in a briefing for policymakers, advocates, researchers, donors and others.
Please complete the form below for your country and share it with anyone you think could contribute to building this global picture. Deadline 8 November 2023.
Access the survey:
English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Russian.
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Call for input:
Violence and health in prison
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As Secretariat of the Informal CSO Group on Health in Prison, PRI is coordinating civil society input for an upcoming technical brief on violence and health in prison by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
See the type of information being sought and send any relevant research, initiatives, publications, or hyperlinks to tlenihan@penalreform.org by 6 November 2023.
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New resource:
How the climate crisis affects access to justice and children’s rights
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Environmental degradation and climate change disproportionately affect children, especially those within the justice system who face increased risk to their rights and well-being as climate change exacerbates environmental disasters, economic disparities, and societal disruptions.
Developed under the Global Initiative on Justice with Children together with Terre des Hommes, this advocacy brief on climate in-justice for children aims to enhance awareness among stakeholders on the urgent necessity to protect children’s rights to access justice in the context of the climate crisis.
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Global Prison Trends summary and graphics now in four languages
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Global Prison Trends 2023 set out the key trends and challenges in prison systems worldwide, exposing the impact of economic crises and rising costs on prison systems, detained persons and their families. An Executive summary of the report including key messages and infographics, and the accompanying social media pack are now available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
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Report on implementation of the National Strategy for the Demilitarisation of Prisons in the Central African Republic
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New blog:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calls for transformative change in drug policy in ambitious new report
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Punitive drug policies are a key driver of criminalisation and imprisonment, with drug offences accounting for 22% of the global prison population. In this blog, Ann Fordham, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium, considers a groundbreaking report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights which has "broken open a fossilised stalemate within the UN’s drug control system".
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New blog:
The over-penalisation of poverty through fines and fees
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In many countries around the world, criminal justice fines disproportionately affect the poorest and most marginalised in society, effectively creating tiered justice systems. In this blog, Jean Galbraith and Rheem Brooks from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School summarise the findings of new research and discuss what international human rights and criminal justice communities can do to combat the use of poverty penalties.
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Recording available: Human Rights in Prisons Webinar
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