HYDERABAD: Further training will help equip Sindh prisons with modern management techniques and it will focus on promoting human rights and countering violent extremism.

This was stated by United States Consul General JoAnne Wagner while laying the foundation of a prison staff training academy. The ceremony was held at Hyderabad Central Jail on Thursday. It was her first visit outside Karachi.

Inspector General of Sindh Prisons Nusrat Hussain Mangan was present on the occasion.

“Corrections are often the neglected leg of a three-legged stool. Without police, prosecutors and prison officials working together, the system cannot succeed. The US stands with Sindh in all of these areas and we applaud the great strides the Sindh prisons department has made in recent years. The training in this new facility will help equip Sindh prisons with modern prison management techniques and it will focus on promoting human rights and countering violent extremism,” the CG said.

According to a press release, the new Rs175 million academy will be completed in 2020 and will house training for all new incoming employees of the Sindh prisons department while also providing refresher training courses for current staff. The US views capacity building as one of its most important engagements with its Pakistani partners.

“We have already funded the training of 77 officials from the Sindh prisons department since 2013,” she said.

The additional facilities will allow the academy to train about 600 prison officials at one time, quadrupling current training capacity. This facility, which will include classrooms, a library, a computer lab, an auditorium, and living quarters, will train prison officials from Sindh and Balochistan.

Appreciating the US cooperation for training of jail staff, IGP Mangan said that many officials and officers sacrificed their lives to control terrorism. He said there were threats posed by terrorists to jails and their officers. He said the US cooperation would enhance professional skills of the staff.

Meanwhile, CG Wagner also met the Hyderabad mayor and director general of health services as well as other district health officials on her first trip outside Karachi to discuss important development and diplomatic issues.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2018