The EU and Council of Europe are continuing the close collaboration with the Training Center for prison staff in Albania to raise the capacities of Albanian prison management, through trainings tailored to the needs of main beneficiaries.

To this end, two capacity building sessions were organised on 18 and 19 March 2025 in Tirana. On the first day 21 prison directors and 4 representatives from the Directorate General of Prison Administration focused on the identification of current challenges in prison, effective leadership and communication; safety, security, discipline and good order. During the second day, 21 Chiefs of Prison Police were actively engaged in discussing the role of security vis-a vis rehabilitation, devoting an enhanced attention to integrated security approaches, de-escalation techniques, and dynamic security.

Both capacity-building sessions ensured the right balance between Council of Europe standards on protecting the rights of prisoners, and practical knowledge delivered through role playing. The two capacity-building sessions were designed in the form of workshops where participants openly exchanged between themselves and international trainers.

The training was conducted in the framework of the Action on “Enhancing the protection of Human Rights of prisoners in Albania” part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme ”Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye – Phase III”.