The penitentiary sector in North Macedonia is characterised by overcrowded, outdated infrastructure, lack of maintenance, improper treatment of inmates, lack of training and educational programs, and lack of institutional arrangements and management capacity, among other issues.
To overcome this situation, the Government took actions to develop and upgrade the penitentiary infrastructure and the institutional capacity of the correctional-educational system. This will improve not only the living conditions of the inmates but the working conditions of the staff in the framework of the respect of human rights in line with European standards and prison rules.
WBIF has provided comprehensive technical assistance for the reconstruction of four selected penitentiary facilities - Idrizovo Penal Correctional Facility, Skopje Prison, Kumanovo Penal Correctional Facility, and Tetovo Juvenile Educational Correctional Facility.
This WBIF TA grant has supported the implementation of investments through two phases - Phase 1 covered the preparation of a Project Implementation Plan - PIP (c. €75,000), and Phase 2 supported further TA activities pertaining to the implementation of the agreed PIP (c. €275,000). According to the adopted PIP, investments were split into two segments: i) Segment 1 covered the investments in Kumanovo, Idrizovo (Phase I) and Tetovo facilities; and ii) Segment 2 covered investments planned for the Idrizovo (Phase II and III), and Skopje facilities.
