The Council of Europe continues to support the Romanian authorities in the framework of the project “Further strengthening the provision of health care and mental health care in prisons and other closed institutions in Romania (phase 2)”. The beginning of a new chapter was marked with its first Steering Committee meeting on 31 March 2025. The phase 2 will support the Romanian authorities in improving the provision of health care including psychiatric care to prisoners in line with the Council of Europe standards and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law.

The new phase of the project will build upon the results already achieved earlier and provide additional assistance to authorities in further enhancing efficiency of health care in closed institutions.

The Steering Committee members, representatives of the Project partners and beneficiary institutions, including the Ministry of Justice, National Administration of Penitentiaries and Ministry of Health expressed their full commitment to keep advancing. They reflected on the needs and priorities, discussed concrete future actions and endorsed the project’s overall Work Plan and the activity plan for the coming months.

The current phase of the project is funded by the Council of Europe Human Rights Trust Fund.