On 7 April, the Head of Press Office and Spokesperson for the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Ioanna Lachana, and the Chief of EULEX’s Correctional Unit, Ritva Hannele Vahakoski, presented the Kosovo Correctional Service outreach campaign to around 50 representatives  of the “United toward essential post-penal reintegration” online conference, organized by the Network of Organizations for Post-Penal Support in Serbia.

Lachana noted that the main aim of the outreach campaign is to raise awareness of the important role and work of the Kosovo Correctional Service to facilitate the reintegration and the successful return of sentenced persons to the society. This is done through a series of videos describing how the Kosovo Correctional Service helps sentenced persons develop their skills. 

Vahakoski spoke about the very good cooperation the Mission enjoys with the Kosovo Correctional Service, noting that EULEX is currently implementing a series of training courses for correctional staff on how to manage prisoners with mental health issues. 

The two-day conference, which was implemented within the EU Techical Assistance to Civil Society Organizations  3 People to People Programme, focused on several topics related to the post-penal reintegration of former incarcerated persons, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on post-penal support and cooperation between civil society, governmental institutions and media; the role of media in fighting stigmatization of previously incarcerated persons; the challenges of reintegration of the juveniles; the challenging reintegration of people who use drugs; and the cooperation between CSOs and governmental institutions.