Prison officers from Sentro di Detenshon i Korekshon Korsou (SDKK) on Curaçao, Korrektie Instituut Aruba (KIA) on Aruba and the Caribbean Netherlands Correctional Institution (Justitiële Inrichting Caribisch Nederland, JICN) on Bonaire are participating in a joint exchange program starting Monday, the 29 th of August. The prison on St. Maarten,
Point Blanche, will also be part of the exchange in a later stage. The goal is to share knowledge and experience between the different institutions, among others in the field of reintegration and treatment of detainees.
The JICN was chosen as the knowledge center where the exchange will take place.
During the exchange, guards (bewakers, BEWA’s) and correctional facility workers (penitentiair inrichtingswerkers, PIW’ers) from Curaçao, Aruba and later St. Maarten will be linked one-on-one to a staff member of the JICN. By
means of this “twinning system”, during a three-week program, they will gain insight into the various departments, the protocols and the working methods within the JICN and they will have the opportunity to share their own working
methods and insights with their colleagues on Bonaire.
The penitentiary on Bonaire was chosen as knowledge center because it is working on several interesting projects that can also be applicable to prisons in the region. For example, the ‘Ban pa Kambio’ project offers prisoners
structure and the chance to develop themselves. The possibility to participate in training, learning and working paths and employment increases the chance of a socially acceptable existence for detainees after detention. Furthermore,
within the JICN there is a lot of attention for Detention and Reintegration (D&R), with the aim to prepare detainees as good as possible for a return to society.
The exchange program is expected to continue through December, to give as many staff members as possible the opportunity to work directly with a colleague from one of the other Caribbean judicial institutions. The directors of
all institutions will meet on Monday, the 29 th and Tuesday, the 30 th of August on Bonaire for the directors’ consultation and will be present at the kick-off of this joint project.
