Rabat – Morocco’s General Delegation for Penitentiary Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) announced Friday the launch of the third annual summer program for detained minors.
The program will take place from July 16 to September 10, benefiting 3,500 detainees this year, the DGAPR stated on July 17. The program includes summer camps and educational, cultural, sporting, and social activities.
The statement explained that the program is part of the DGAPR’s plans to improve detained minors’ behavior, providing them with supportive skills to ensure they enjoy “better inclusion” in Moroccan society after their release.
The DGAPR launched this year’s summer program given its continued success since launching in 2018 and having a positive impact on detained minors. The program has earned satisfactory feedback from participants.
The department emphasized the importance of respecting preventive measures throughout the program to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in accordance with all precautionary requirements outlined by health authorities.
The measures include the expansion of housing institutions from eight to 29 penitentiary establishments to avoid the displacement of minor detainees.
The measures also take into account social distancing requirements to avoid any threat of contamination among detainees.
Moroccan prison authorities also promised to disinfect all rooms and spaces dedicated to summer programs for minors and provide all means of protection, including masks and sanitizing gels.
The DGAPR sponsors the summer program for minors along with the UN Development Program (UNDP).
UNDP said in 2018 during the launch of the first program that this initiative “had a direct impact on the attitude of the young detainees, who found themselves in a more peaceful environment. They got involved in all the activities.”
The UN body said the initiative fits with “the common approach of promoting tolerance and universal values for the benefit of young people in Morocco.”
