United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

The UNODC Regional Office in East Africa (ROEA)

UNODC Delivers a Training of Trainers for Uganda Prisons Service on the new Curriculum on Preventing and Countering Violent extremism

Kampala (Uganda), 7 December  – The Uganda Prison Service (UPS) and UNODC recently completed a five-day Training of Trainers for over 35 staff of the Uganda Prison Academy and Teaching School on new Preventing and Countering Violent extremism (PCVE) modules.

The modules were developed to strengthen security and safety mechanisms and capacities in prison and amongst prison staff in Uganda. Prior to conducting the Training of Trainers, UPS and UNODC undertook a rigorous process in the development of the modules which included consultation and assessment of PATS training capacity and PCVE related course content; and holding of a course development workshop which proposed the content and teaching approach for PCVE specific issues in six (6) modules of the PATS curriculum. The Draft Modules were reviewed and validated by PATS in August 2020 before undergoing a final review process by UNODC.

These modules, which form part of the existing training curricula of the Uganda Prison Service have been developed under the Joint Global Initiative "Supporting the Management of Violent Extremist Prisoners and the Prevention of Radicalization to Violence in Prisons" a four year (2018-2021) joint initiative of the European Union, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) being implemented in partnership by the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED). It is co-funded by the European Union, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and the Netherlands.  UNODC organized the five-day Training of Trainers for PATS personnel in order to test the six modules for teaching.  The objective of the training was to ensure familiarity with the approach and content of the modules, and to build confidence of the staff in delivering classes for positive learning outcomes for trainees taking the courses.

The training was conducted by UNODC consultant Mr. Paul English who facilitated the training sessions via video conferencing due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The ToT focused on hands-on mentoring of PATS staff to deliver training on the six topics of; Introduction to Uganda Prisons Service; Treatment of inmates; Social Rehabilitation & Reintegration Programs; Human Rights and PCVE; Introduction to Law and Prisons Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism.

The training, which commenced on 16 November, was opened by the Commissioner General of Prisons Dr. John Byabashaija, who emphasized the importance of specialized training for Prison Staff to better manage Violent Extremist Prisoners and prevent radicalization to violence in prisons, which present potential breeding grounds for radicalization to violence and recruitment to terrorism.

Mr. Nicolas Gonze, Head of Governance and Human Rights at the European Union in Uganda welcomed the training as very timely in light of the ongoing recruitment of new staff by the Uganda Prison Service. He reaffirmed the EU commitment and partnership with UNODC and further stated that the initiative builds on and strengthens the EU’s long-term partnership with Uganda in promoting the rule of law and delivering justice. In turn, UNODC Head of Office in Uganda, Ms. Sharon Lesa Nyambe, expressed UNODC’s appreciation to the Government of Uganda and UPS for the partnership and cooperation in the implementation of the joint Global initiative and the EU, Netherlands and UNOCT for the political and financial support. Ms. Nyambe emphasized the great importance to capacity building of staff on the management of violent extremist prisoners.

It was agreed that following the internal approval of the of the six modules on PCVE and their integration into the basic staff training curricula, a toolkit will be developed to support the cascading exercise of the training to teaching staff and new recruits, coupled with the development of a bespoke specialised course for in-serving staff in UPS.

For more information, please contact: 

Ms. Sharon Lesa Nyambe – sharon.nyambe@un.org

Head of Office

UNODC Programme Office of Uganda