Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #8 - Investing in Staff (ACJ8-A003)

Article 3: Unodc's Scenario-Based E-Learning Course On The Nelson Mandela Rules Translating International Minimum Standards On The Treatment Of Prisoners Into Practical Guidance For Prison And Corrections Officers (ACJ8-A003)

Abstract

This paper describes the recent initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to develop an e-learning platform on the Nelson Mandela Rules. The paper outlines the structure and content of the e-learning course and some of its special features. It discusses how UNODC has launched the course to date and the plans for the future in order to generate and strengthen global interest in utilising the Nelson Mandela Rules as a trigger for prison reform. This includes a sustained outreach campaign targeting national prison and corrections administrations, with a focus on prison staff training schools and academies.

Please log in to download the full article. Access is available exclusively to ICPA Full, Staff, and Professional Members.

Author

Philipp Meissner

Inter-Regional Advisor, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Austria

Philipp Meissner, Inter-regional Advisor, serves as the focal point for prison reform in the Justice Section of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for which he has been working for the past eleven years.

During his tenure, he has focused on penal reform efforts from different angles, including standardsetting, technical advisory services and the implementation of technical assistance projects. Importantly, he accompanied and supported the inter-governmental process to update the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which led to the adoption of the Nelson Mandela Rules by the UN General Assembly in 2015.

A major focus of his work relates to translating the Nelson Mandela Rules into practice-oriented guidance for prison and corrections officers and to service inter-governmental mechanisms of Member States with a shared interest in prison management issues, such as the Group of Friends of the Nelson Mandela Rules. Recent tools developed under his guidance include, inter alia, a checklist on assessing compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules and the first scenario-based e-learning course on the Rules.

Mr. Meissner also led UNODC’s engagement in the specific field of addressing the manifestation of violent extremism in prisons, including the development of its Handbook on the management of violent extremist prisoners and the prevention of radicalization to violence in prisons – the first manual dedicated to this topic at the level of the UN.

He provided technical advice to prison and corrections administrations on all continents and was involved in the design and implementation of numerous prison reform projects. Longer-term field assignments included, inter alia, the State of Palestine and Cambodia.

Mr. Meissner is a German national. He obtained a Master’s degree in political science from Freie Universität Berlin, with a focus on international (criminal) law, and is fluent in English, French and German.

Advancing Corrections Journal - Edition #8 - Investing in Staff (ACJ8-A003)

Related topics

You may also be interested in