Following the development of the Guidelines on well-being of prison staff working with violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) and other prisoners prone to radicalisation, the first working group meeting on the development of the training plan and programme for the well-being of prison staff was held on 10-11 April 2025 and is the first in a round of activities the Council of Europe specifically dedicated to improve the wellbeing and mental health of prison staff.

Prison professionals and representatives of the Ministries of Justice of BiH, of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska discussed the training structure that will enable prison staff to raise awareness on dealing with different issues related to the well-being and mental health and on the support and self-help mechanisms and instruments available. Therefore, the first working group meeting resulted in the initial outline of the training plan and programme. Moreover, the working group members also discussed the need to implement specific workshops and trainings for prison management as they can have a positive role in taking measures to support prison staff in situations where mental health related issued are recognised and need to be addressed.

In the upcoming meetings the working group members, with the support of the Council of Europe, will delve further into the issues of stress, burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and other issues in order to develop a comprehensive training plan and programme on dealing with well-being and mental health for prison staff.

The Project “Providing for effective reintegration of violent extremist offenders in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PER-VEO) - Phase I” is funded under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.