The 3rd Steering Committee (SC) meeting of the project "Ensuring Sustainable Penitentiary Actions in managing rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ESPA-VEP)” took place on 14 June 2023, in Konjic.

Decision-makers from the three Ministries of Justice and prison governors coming from across the country gathered to review the progress achieved, as well as to review and approve the activity plan for July-December 2023. The SC members commended the project's recent endeavours, focused on further strengthening the penitentiary system in BiH, and especially on piloting pre-release programmes for violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) and developing specialized training curricula and modules for prison staff dealing with VEPs.

The members of the SC also endorsed the monitoring report that assesses the progress made under the Strategic Guidelines for management of VEPs in BiH and the related Action Plan (2020-2025). Additionally, the need for enhanced cross-border cooperation between the practitioners in the Western Balkans in addressing common risks and challenges was emphasized. In this context, the participants praised the Council of Europe for providing the necessary environment for knowledge-sharing and experience exchange under the umbrella of the regional action implemented under the Horizontal Facility Programme.

This activity was organized within the project "Ensuring Sustainable Penitentiary Actions in managing rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ESPA-VEP)", which is funded under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.