Darfur: UN-backed training course held for local prison officers

Twenty prison guards in Darfur have undertaken a week-long United Nations-run training course aimed at improving the treatment of inmates in the war-scarred region of western Sudan.

The five-day course, held last week in the West Darfur state capital of El Geneina, focused on ensuring that participants – both male and female – have the skills to carry out basic prison duties in line with modern trends and international legal principles.

Last week’s course was organized by the prison advisory unit within the rule of law section of the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in the region, according to a press release issued by the mission, known as UNAMID.

The mission signed an agreement earlier this year with the Sudanese Government that grants relevant UNAMID staff unrestricted access to prisons in Darfur to try to improve the jail system across the region.

Twenty staff were selected from the Ardamata prison in West Darfur to take part in last week’s course and UNAMID said it hopes that it will be only the first in a series of training programmes lined up for prison staff in Darfur.