WOMEN BEHIND BARS ENGAGED BY THE EMBASSY OF GERMANY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FACE MASKS

by with No Comment Covid-19 InterventionsLife style

WOMEN BEHIND BARS ENGAGED BY THE EMBASSY OF GERMANY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FACE MASKS.

It is often said that treasures are found in the darkest places. Such is the case with the incarcerated women of Suleja Custodial Center (Prison) who despite their incarcerated state have found a way to be a beacon of hope to underserved persons during the pandemic through the Ankara Face Mask Project.

 

As part of our empowerment behind bars project (Made in Corrections), we donated 4 brand new sewing machines and other tailoring equipment to the female ward of Suleja Custodial Center. For 3 weeks we helped to refine the sewing and tailoring skills of the inmates with the approval of the Controller.

 

 

The Ankara Face Mask Project is an initiative of Mrs Briggit Ory the German Ambasador to Nigeria as part of the Embassy’s response to COVID-19 in Nigeria in partnership with  Stewards of the Enviroment for Sustainable Change Initiative. Hope behind Bars Africa served as a field implementation partner in executing the project as 10 incarcerated women were paid the Nigerian Minimum Wage for making 138 face masks each. The face masks were branded, laundered and distributed for free to persons in underserved communities including all the inmates and officers of the prison. In total, 11 communities were reached and 5500 face masks distributed.

SHORT COURSE ON CAPITAL REPRESENTATION FOR LAW CLINIC STUDENTS AND YOUNG LAWYERS

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HOPE BEHIND BARS AFRICA ORGANISES SHORT COURSE ON CAPITAL REPRESENTATION FOR LAW CLINIC STUDENTS AND YOUNG LAWYERS

With support from Accountability Lab, Hope behind bars Africa had a successful capacity building training for Law students and young lawyers in the month of July, 2020.

The Capacity building training was a combination of virtual knowledge sharing sessions and on-site trainings, 15 deserving applicants were selected and the virtual sessions were open to interested persons. A total of 75 persons participated and the feedback on the insightfulness of the session were amazing.

Here are the highlights from the training program.

Day 1- We had Kulani Ngobeni from Stellenboch University and Rosemary Ochiwu from Nigerian Law School speak on the role of law students in criminal justice reforms.

Day 2- We had Bamisope Adeyanju a multi-award winning scholar from Columbia University speak on public interest lawyering.

Day 3- We had facilitators from the Cornell University Center on the Death Penalty and other Makwanyane Institute fellows speak on cross border issues relating to the death penalty. We had astute professor Sandra Babcock– Clinical Professor at Cornell, Paulina Lucio Maymon-JD student at American Washington University, Funke Adeoye-Makwanyane fellow and several others.

The feedback was amazing as the applicants opined that they learnt more than they had anticipated for from the sessions.

PRESS RELEASE

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1000 INDIGENT PRE-TRIAL DETAINEES IN NIGERIA TO GET FREE LEGAL REPRESENTATION THROUGH NGO PARTNERSHIP

Date: Monday, 17th August 2020 

As of July 2020, 72.7% of incarcerated persons across Nigeria’s Correctional facilities are awaiting trial. This is so despite the decongestion activities occasioned by the pandemic carried out by the Federal government and various state governments within the past 4 months. With the restriction on visits to custodial centers to prevent the coronavirus from getting into Nigeria’s Correctional Facilities, the human rights of several indigent pre-trial detainees are violated as they are been denied access to justice.

Access to Justice for 1000 Pre-trial Detainees summarily called Justice for 1000 is an initiative of Flemer Project Initiative in partnership with Hope behind Bars Africa Initiative which is funded by Partners West Africa and The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (Hill). Flemer Project Initiative is an organization that helps indigent pretrial detainees conclude their matters in court as quickly as possible with the help of young volunteer lawyers, and uses tech to monitor the progress of representation provided by the lawyers. Hope behind Bars Africa is an organization with the mission of being a beacon of hope to the incarcerated using action, education, and advocacy. Both organizations have previously provided free legal representation to over 130 indigent pretrial detainees in Lagos and F.C.T, Abia, Edo, Niger, and Nasarawa state respectively.

The project has the following objectives:

– To facilitate access to justice for indigent pretrial detainees charged with minor offenses by supporting and incentivizing young lawyers who provide legal representation to such persons within the earliest possible time.  

– To work with all relevant stakeholders in the Criminal Justice System towards holistic decongestion of correctional facilities.

– To promote the implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Nigerian Correctional Service Act on provisions that relates to alternatives to incarceration and restorative justice practices in criminal matters.

The project is set to kick start in Lagos, Edo, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and F.C.T by August 2020.

END

For further information, kindly contact:  

Flemer Project Initiative                                     Hope behind Bars Africa Initiative

Email: flemerproject@gmail.com                               Email: letstalk@hopebehindbarsafrica.org

Telephone: +234-90338147                                     Telephone: +234-8057872764

Emergency Welfare Intervention for Prison Inmates

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The world is currently battling the Corona Virus Pandemic. COVID-19 is spread through droplets released into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms show up in people within 14 days of exposure to the virus. The symptoms include cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches, sore throat, unexplained loss of taste or smell, Diarrhea and Headache. In rare cases, COVID-19 can lead to severe respiratory problems, kidney failure or death. Also, some patients may not show any such symptoms. Such patients may just be carriers of the virus, and can spread it to others. Diagnosis with only a physical examination may be difficult because mild cases of COVID-19 may appear similar to the flu or a bad cold.

Doubtless the covid19 season is a tough season for everyone. This is even more so for people in confined places like the Nigerian Correctional Facilities where the movement and social distancing is very limited because of space. This is why as is our mandate to reach out to inmates, on 11th May, Hope Behind Bars Africa Initiative with support from LEAP Africa, Citi bank and Dow Chemicals through the COVID19 Emergency Prison Fund took interventions to the prisons.

Our core message centres around protection and prevention of spread through prison decongestion as a means to #zerocovid19inprison. We also sensitised on social distancing, use of face masks, thorough hand washing and a proper hygiene system. We interacted with the prison officers and provided pictorial IEC materials donated by Youth rise Nigeria to enable them properly guide the inmates.

With the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the number of usual supports enjoyed by this prisons has greatly dwindled. We therefore supported inmates with palliatives which includes 5 bags of 50kg rice, -2 bags of garri, 1 bag of beans, 3 gallons of red oil, 2 bags of salt (50 pieces each), Half bag of sugar, 1 bag of Kulikuli, 1 and half carton of Milo,1 and half cartoon of Milk 1 cartoon of Maggi, 20 pieces of Minimie Chin Chin, 5 cartons of digestive biscuit, 10 cartoons of Viva detergent, 5 cartons of bathing soap, 12 Mosquito nets, 20 bathing buckets, 20 packs of toilet rolls, 2 and half packs of Sanitary pads, 1 cartoon of Dettol disinfectant, 36 pieces of Vaseline,  3 hand washing drums, 20 Hand sanitizers for officers, 20 face mask for officers to all 228  inmates  and officers of Old Keffi Correctional Facility.