Cornerstone of female correctional centre laid

Kabul: Representatives of the Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team and provincial authorities laid the cornerstone stone of a new female correctional centre in the western Herat City.

The project will host 80 detainees along with their children and responds to the urgent need for improved conditions of detainees in the current centre. It has been jointly financed by the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Defence.

The European Commission said on Thursday project was executed within the EU support to the Provincial Governance Programme, administered by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

In a press release issued here, the EC described the project as part of Support to the Provincial Governance Programme funded by European Union with a grant of 8.7 million euros.

PRT Commander Col. Giuseppe Levato, Representative of the Italian Defence Ministry Col. Martino Argentiero and head of Civilian Component of PRT Nicola Orlando stressed in their speeches the importance and the effectiveness of civilian-military cooperation in the reconstruction effort.

As the speakers thanked the European Union for its support of the Italian commitment in Herat, municipal and provincial authorities also highlighted the importance of the new facility - especially of the adoption of the internationally recognised principles of detainees re-integration in society.

Planned by the Military Component of the Herat PRT, the new building will be built by local companies. The project includes the delivery of psychological support and vocational training to the detainees in marketable skills.

The general coordination of the project and the training planning will be managed by the Civilian Component of the Herat PRT. Training will be delivered by the local NGO Voice of Women, which has a long-established specialisation in the field.

Thanks to the coordination with the relevant international bodies, in particular ICRC and UNODC, the new facility will be respectful of the universally recognized human rights and its structure will acknowledge the primacy of rehabilitation over the purpose of mere punishment.