ABout the project

This project is a voluntary contribution project implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the main partners, namely the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the State Department of Execution of Criminal Sanctions and other relevant national stakeholders of the penitentiary system in Ukraine.

DECOPRIS aligns with the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026. Particularly, the Project addresses the objective of ‘continued support to the authorities in building modern prison and probation systems with a focus on shifting from punitive to rehabilitative approaches in the context of war and post-war recovery period’.

Building upon the successes of the EU and CoE Joint Project "Support the Prison Reform in Ukraine" (JP SPERU), and the EU and CoE Joint Project "Support the Prison Reform in Ukraine Plus" (JP SPERU+) DECOPRIS strategically leverages the reform objectives outlined in Ukraine's "Strategy for Penitentiary Reform 2021-2026."

The overarching goal is to improve conditions and treatment of detainees in Ukraine in line with CoE standards, through the following:

  1. Adopting contemporary instruments of effective prison management by penitentiary system’s decision- and policymakers.
  2. Promoting dynamic security approaches by prison management and operational staff and increasing their capacity to maintain positive relationships with the inmates with focus on the prevention of ill treatment and torture in prisons.
  3. Developing and enhancing prison management and operational staff capacity to apply new rehabilitation tools and programs that facilitate detainee’s rehabilitation and preparation for release.
  4. Preparing correctional and healthcare staff to implement new programmes targeting detained people with substance use disorders.
  5. Understanding the benefits of a comprehensive drug treatment system in custodial settings and elaborating plans for its sustainable implementation.

The project implementation ends in December 2026.

The Project budget: 2 500 000 EUR

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Project team

Project Manager in Strasbourg - Mykhailo Iskra

Senior Project Officer - Oksana Pugach

Project Assistant - Olena Bannikova