Ghana Prisons Service to host biennial conference

Accra, Aug. 26, GNA - The Ghana Prisons Service, a member of the African Correctional Services Association (ACSA), would host the Second Biennial General Conference of ACSA in Accra from September 13 to 17. The five-day conference which is the first ever to be held in Ghana is under the theme: "Expanding the Frontiers of Change through Corrections".

A statement issued in Accra on Thursday and signed by Assistant Superintendent of Prisons and Chief Public Relations Officer, Mr. Courage Atsem, said about 150 participants from all African countries and others outside the continent, were expected to attend. It said the conference, was to create a platform for the participants to jointly promote Prisons reforms, exchange ideas and share information on best practices.

Ghana as a country would be able to re-assess its penal system and explore other alternatives that relate to custodial sentencing. Other benefits are; development of corrections (Prisons) of the African continent to meet international standards and paradigm shift from safe custody to treatment of offenders. The rest are deepening of international co-operation among African Union (AU) member countries.

The conference was last held in Pretoria, South Africa in 2008.