United Arab Emirates - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) delivered in the last week of March an online workshop on measures for the prevention of communicable diseases, including COVID-19, in prison settings.
A total of 27 selected law enforcement officers from the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, and from prisons across seven emirates including the detention centre for juveniles, attended the online workshop. Topics covered in the workshop included risks, transmission routes, and symptoms of infection with COVID-19, especially in the prison settings to protecting those in custody from infection and care for those who become infected.
The protection of staff, including health-care providers, from infection and maintaining general and mental health among prisoners/detainees during the pandemic and ensuring access to treatment and commodities to those with other health conditions and special needs were also addressed.
Participants have expressed their appreciation to UNODC for providing this type of technical assistance activity especially at this extraordinary time when it was needed the most.
