Resources

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on education highlights the need to include our society’s most vulnerable and most margined members, such as prisoners, in order to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that are needed to build just, peaceful, and sustainable societies.

The situation in Senegalese prisons is of a major concern given the overall condition of detention as well as the context of insecurity that characterizes the sector. In 2016, the country had 37 penal institutions for a total prison population of 9,422 prisoners (including pre-trial detainees and remand prisoners), of which approximately 200 were minors.1 Despite the efforts to humanize the prisons by adopting the name, “House of Arrest and Corrections” [Maison d'arrêt et de correction (MAC)] instead of the term "prison," and improving the living conditions in prisons, the fate of prisoners is not satisfactory. The reintegration promoted by Senegal's correctional facilities has largely consisted of a series of education programs, such as literacy and painting, developed by a number of organizations, but the space provided by prison administration, line Ministries, and NGOs are limited and the impact so far has been insufficient. A prison is not just a building, but it is also an instrument of rehabilitation to regain a place in society. This obviously requires the development of training, education and vocational guidance to support smooth reintegration into society.

In this context, UNESCO's Dakar Regional Multi-Sectoral Office organized, in partnership with the Senegal National Commission for UNESCO and experts, a “National Consultation on the Situation of Prisons in Senegal: Improvement of the Condition of Detention, Social Integration, and Prevention of Violent Extremism through Education” in Dakar, Senegal, from 23 to 24 May 2017.