The fifth Steering Committee Meeting on Swedish-Kenyan Cooperation Programmes on strengthening Correctional Services was held recently in Lund.
The Committee is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the development co-operation programmes in the area of correctional services reforms in Kenya.
RWI’s Kenya Programme has focused on human rights in correctional services in Kenya since 2012 through in particular an intensive cooperation with Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) on compliance with UN Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners and other international human rights standards.
The institute has also now entered into a new partnership with KPAS on human rights capacity development particularly on UN Standards for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) and other relevant human rights standards.
This high-level meeting was chaired by the Principal Secretary, State department for Correctional Services and attended by heads and representatives of Kenya Prisons, Kenya Probation and Aftercare Service, Kenyan Judiciary and Swedish Prison and Probation Service. The meeting was preceded by a study visit to relevant correctional institutions in Southern Sweden.
The meeting culminated in drawing up of action plans by the departments to improve the implementation, accountability and sustainability of the Programmes.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the State department for Correctional Services and the Institute was also signed by the Principle Secretary, State department for Correctional Services and Director Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for the purpose of formalizing the agreement RWI has with the Correctional services in Kenya.
“The MoU covers cooperation with both Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) and Kenya Probation and Aftercare Services (KPAS) with the overall objective of the cooperation being to create sustainable capacity within the correctional services of Kenya to meet relevant international human rights standards,” says Damaris Seina, Programme Officer, RWI’s office in Nairobi.