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UNESCO CHAIR
IT Cerca

Look beyond prison

June 2018 - December 2021

Completed project

Look beyond the prison. Strengthening civil society in social inclusion and in the protection and promotion of the rights of prisoners and ex-prisoners in Cameroon
 

The project started in June 2018 and lasts for 3 years. It is financed by Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (AICS). It aims at the promotion of an inclusive and right-conscious society, particular regarding prisoners in four cities in Cameroon: Douala, Mbalmayo, Garoua e Bafoussam. Prisoners and ex-prisoners are one of the most exposed category to unemployment, exclusion and poverty. In addition prisoners are everywhere recognized as disadvantaged (Community Regulation No 2204/02, Law 381/1991). In countries where there are no regulations and incentives for the integration of vulnerable people, action is needed to strengthen and raise the awareness of civil society. This in order to promote good practices that bring the prisoners and ex-prisoners back to the center of social life and the community, recognizing them in their humanity. The project is committed to focusing attention on the re-educational purpose of punishment and on the role that each individual citizen can play in the process of resocialization and protection of human rights.

The project leader is the association Associazione Centro Orientamento Educativo (COE) which collaborates for the implementation of the activities with different partners; each of them with different skills and sensitivities. Among the Italian partners there is Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore which, through the University Centre for International Solidarity, will support the interventions both from a scientific and an administrative point of view.

Through the project Looking Beyond Prison, COE intends to continue and expand some of the initiatives implemented. COE already started a project in January 2015 and by now it is completed. It was  funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and entitled Let's Unleash. Its aim was to promote the rights and to improve  the living conditions of detainees in the prisons of Garoua, Mbalmayo and Douala.

Survey on the perception of prisoners and implementation of a civic education course

Università Cattolica carried out in November and December 2018 its first missions in Cameroon. On one hand by  providing with the administration of proficiency interviews to some "privileged witnesses". On the other hand by delivering a training course on the administration of semi-structured interviews to 8 local operators in the cities of Mbalmayo and Douala. This was possible thanks to Dr. Oana Marcu and Dr. Silvia Malacarne. The analysis of the interviews in included in the book n. 9 of the CeSI series "Quaderni del CeSI" with the title Università e ONG insieme per lo sviluppo. L’esperienza del progetto “Sguardo oltre il carcere” in Camerun.

Training course for the establishment of coordination tables

The second group of activities carried out in Cameroon by Università Cattolica was realized in April 2019. Professors Costanza Marzotto and Miriam Parise conducted and coordinated a training course for 15 local operators in the city of Mbalmayo. The course was aimed at the creation of coordination tables between local authorities to deal with problems affecting prisoners and their living conditions in prisons. A second filed mission has been held in January 2020 in order to monitor the activities realized by the coordination tables.

A second mission follewed in January 2020. During this mission, Università Cattolica professors visited the four cities involved in the project (Mbalmayo, Youndé, Bafoussam e Garoua). The mission aimed to meet the members of the project teams built in 2018, now committed to the implementation of the coodination tables, in order to evaluate the criticism of the activities and identify strategies to reach the activities' goals. 

Project documents