Mogadishu, 9 June 2014 – Officials from the corrections department of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) visited the Mogadishu central prison today to monitor ongoing renovation projects and to discuss with the custodial management ways to support their needs and priorities.
The prison is being renovated at the moment with the support of the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) including fencing and building of septic tanks.

UNSOM corrections officer Francis Benon highlighted the need for an in-depth assessment on the prisons infrastructure and its human resources’ capacity.

“We would like to conduct a participatory needs assessment and develop a strategic plan together. We understand your priorities and with the right resources you can improve not only Mogadishu central prison but also all prisons across south central Somalia,” He said.
We are also organizing a management training course for the custodial managers in this month which we also plan to repeat in Garowe,” He added.

The custodial commissioner, Colonel Hussein Hassan Osman welcomed UNSOM’s efforts in supporting the national corrections sector stressing that the sector lack proper attention in the national agenda. “We cannot carry out some of our duties effectively due to lack of resources. We don’t have enough vehicles and the infrastructure of our prisons is very poor,”