Prisoners impress government with life skills project
Training. Male prisoners engage in performing arts at Lira Prison in August 2018. PHOTO BY BILL OKETCH.
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Ms Kathrin Wyss, the delegate for Uganda and Rwanda with Caritas Switzerland, said: “We developed this pilot project in 2014. This pilot phase turned out to be very successful and this cooperation with UPS is really highly professional.”
The government has drawn lessons from a successful prisoners’ project and has committed to meet the cost of replicating it in other parts of the country, an official has said.
Mr Adams Hasiyo, the principal social rehabilitation and welfare officer with Uganda Prisons Service (UPS), said yesterday that the government plans to “gazette” the inmates’ entrepreneurship and life skills training as an integral part of social rehabilitation and reintegration.
During the project implementation, youth prisoners were trained in entrepreneurship and life skills. The beneficiaries were also equipped with communication skills, identification of business opportunities, marketing, customer service and care, book keeping and developing business plans.
Lango and Acholi sub-regions have implemented economic empowerment and social reintegration of youth ex-prisoners’ (SREE) project for the last three years.
The project has been supported by Advance Afrika, a non-profit governmental organisation, in partnership with UPS with funding from European Union and Caritas Switzerland.
The three-year action plan focused on social economic rehabilitation and reintegration of 1,200 youth prisoners in 28 prison units in Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
The courses that lasted three months had inmates receive kits to enable them establish businesses.
Mr Hasiyo last week said: “Political will for continuation of SREE programme activities is guaranteed. Our partners did a commendable job by engaging different political stakeholders to understand, appreciate and embrace the programme.”
He further said the government has devised strategies of granting continuity of activities previously handled and facilitated by their partner organisations in northern Uganda.
Mr David Opio, the officer-in-charge of Loro prison farm in Oyam District, said the rehabilitation project is yielding fruits.
