Georgia: News from the RFP Caucasus & Central Asia

Monday, 26 September 2011 08:46

On September 22, 2011 the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance (MoCLA) of Georgia awarded the Global Initiative on Psychiatry (GIP)-Tbilisi, along with other local and international agencies involved in a reform of penitentiary and probation systems of the country. GIP-Tbilisi has been IFHHRO's Regional Focal Point for the Caucasus and Central Asia since the beginning of 2011.

One of the main directions of the organisation’s work is a promotion and protection of human rights of prisoners, in particular the right to health and mental health and advancing an effective mental health care in the penitentiary system.

GIP-T implements projects that aim to introduce and establish a health concept to penitentiary staff and promote human-rights based policies in penitentiary mental health care by active civil participation and experience sharing.

Currently it carries out a project “Enhancing respect for the rights of prisoners through the promotion of the right to health, including mental health” with the financial support of the European Commission and IFHHRO. In the framework of this project, trainings of health-care personnel (medical doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, social workers and psychologists), but also guardians and prison staff of penitentiary institutions are taking place. Since February 2011, 90 professionals from East and West Georgia have already been trained.

The two training modules on Mental Health and Human Rights developed by GIP will now be adopted by the training centre of MoCLA. A practical handbook, Human Rights and Mental Health in Prison, is under development.

At this stage GIP-T is also involved in the process of development of a health-care strategy for prisons that will define the road map of reform for the next two years.