Scaling up vocational skills development among people in closed settings ai prisons, refugees and Islands in Uganda

As per out project title: Scaling up vocational skills development among people in closed settings ai prisons, refugees and Islands in Uganda

Despite the fact that refugees, prisoners and their families being the most marginalized and stigmatized in their respective communities, they are not specifically targeted for skills development support by the available support mechanisms from the Government and other non-public actors. Prisoners are said to be Heller in most countries across the Globe, although as professional service provider for people in detention facilities, we need to involve and sensitize local communities, Government and donor agencies the value of supporting refugees, prisoners and their families under national development goals.

Our solution aims to

• Provide computer skills to inmates and refugees
• Art and craft
• Making soaps
• Tailoring e.g. making pads, baby clothes, bags, shoes
• Recycling of wastes for example plastic bottles
• TUNMAPS aims to find market for products, collaborating and networking with other key stakeholders, community leaders for better uptake and ownership of the project, carry out research and advocacy
• Offer education, vocational training and work, as well as other forms of assistance that are appropriate and available, including those of a remedial, moral, spiritual, social and health- and sport-based nature. All such programs, activities and services should be delivered in line with the individual treatment needs of prisoners.

In Uganda, like in most countries in Africa and the rest of the world, prisoners are not popular topics politically and economically, generally prisoners have little political and economical power, however many felons are permanently disenfranchised. There is no political constituency with the clout to pressure for sufficient funding for prisoners facilities or their families for livelihood and development. More often, political rhetoric turns prison programs into a target by framing education and health care as coddling inmates who do not deserve tools for life imprisonment or even basic life sustaining care

While prisoners are busy carrying their own cross under incarceration, back home their families suffer lack of basic needs like income, food, education, health and shelter due to imprisonment of their bread winners. This situation is worsened by community stigmatization that associates them to the crimes that caused the imprisonment of their family members and those who finally serve their sentences to end without sickness or death, are met with challenges of re-integration into their communities thus community stigma, feelings of guilt and hate as well as poverty faces them head-on

Often it is the poorest, least educated and most vulnerable people who find themselves in prisons. In Uganda and many countries across Africa, there are inmates who will never met a lawyer. They are crammed into facilities not built for their numbers, whereby some are operating at 300% capacity. Many prisons operate at around 300% capacity and around 80% of prisoners face challenges of unemployment, poverty, homelessness, denial of jobs, stigma, lack of rehabilitation, and discrimination by the family, friends and relatives.

It is such challenges affecting prisoners, their families and ex-convicts that The Uganda national medical alliance for prisoners support(TUNMAPS) aim to bridge through strengthening refugees and prisoners' resolve by teaching them vocational skills which they can practice in work schemes during their sentence, and which can help them find work upon their release. After they have paid their debt to society, the ability of ex-prisoners to find work is undoubtedly a factor, which contributes significantly to their dignity and self-reliance, their sense of belonging, and the diminished likelihood of their recidivism with the following skills:

• Art and crafts,
• Recycling of waste products and manufacture of plastic products
• Baking,
• Shoe making
• Tailoring i.e. making pads, baby clothes, bags among others
• Soap manufacturing
• Computer skills

TUNMAPS will teach prisoners a variety of useful vocations, and help them improve their self-esteem, decision-making capacities, and confidence in their future. Importantly, these vocations will increase their employability and offer them better work prospects, or better entrepreneurial skills to support them in the case of self-employment. Enabling their smooth transition from incarceration to freedom, TUNMAPS will provide convicts with external certification for their practical training, with documents, which do not indicate that the skills were learnt in prison.

The Uganda National Medical Alliance for Prisoners’ Support (TUNMAPS) is a registered, private and public non- profit actor, responsive for steering strategies to strengthen rapid health economic relief, research, rehabilitation and mindset development for all incarcerated Groups (prisoners), their families, ex-convicts and refugees in Uganda. These strategies have been effected in cognitive partnership with the Government of the republic of Uganda since the inception of TUNMAPS in 2017 and is a pioneer service provider for health and research in closed settings in Uganda.

However, Despite the fact that refugees, prisoners and their families being the most marginalized and stigmatized in their respective communities, they are not specifically targeted for skills development support by the available support mechanisms from the Government and other non-public actors. Prisoners are said to be Heller in most countries across the Globe,  although as professional service provider for people in detention facilities, we need to involve and sensitize local communities, Government and donor agencies the value of supporting refugees, prisoners and their families under national development goals.

TUNMAPS aims to do prison, refugee and home based visits to carry out needs assessment prioritize their needs

Under this program, TUNMAPS and partners will develop and implement a prison, refugee and community mobilization response plan for skills development campaign in closed settings (prisons, remand homes, refugee settlements, and islands). We aim to retain, recruit, train and motivate staff who will train the target group gain skills needed, support, monitor and evaluate their performance.

Although, erective interventions have shown other key vulnerable and marginalized in prisons, ai

• Detained pregnant women and lactating mothers
• Juveniles, youth and adolescents
• Inmates and refugees with disabilities and the disabled
• Foreigners detained and incarcerated refugees

In Uganda, 80 % of the prisoners are least educated i.e. with secondary level as their highest level of education and do not have any vocational skills. In 2022, the Uganda police annual report reported that theft cases greatly increased by 41% to 61,508 compared to 43,583 reported in 2021, all these are motivated by desires for economic gain, unemployment, underemployment, illiteracy and poverty.

In practice, however 62% of the refugees have restricted access to formal education and hindered by high unemployment rates, lack of access to education, vocational training, language barrier, stigma and discrimination   thus two thirds of refugees live in poverty and cannot meet their families’ needs.

It is for the above challenges that TUNMAPS together with partners aims to vocational skills not limited to digital skills to prevent recidivism and crime rates. In addition, to promote safe work, employment, self-reliance, resilience, economic growth and development, positive contribution to the community and rebuild their lives after serving their sentences, after resettlement, when they return to their home countries.

The vocational skill will include:

• Art and crafts
• Baking,
• Shoe making
• Tailoring i.e. making pads, baby clothes, bags among others
• Soap manufacturing
• Computer skills

In this project, we also aim to protect the environment through recycling of waste products and manufacture of plastic products.

Furthermore, we target the following:

• Detained pregnant women and lactating mothers
• Juveniles, youth and adolescents
• Inmates and refugees with disabilities and the disabled
• Foreigners detained and incarcerated refugees
• Refugees
• Male and female inmates
• Those in Islands

The activities

• Introducing basic skills, creativity and vocational training to encourage prisoners to use their time to prepare for release, community resettlement and employment and refugees to resettle in their new communities or when they return to their original home
• Offering psychosocial support through prisons visits, home visits and monitoring, here inmates get psychotherapy that draws their attention from criminality and prisons stigma, trauma, re-engineering pre-bargain system and emotional torture, hence reducing mental health psychosis while adhering to emotional treatment and prepares them to re-integrate in to the community world with positive attitudinal change and become good citizens once released.
• Vocational training: life skills and vocational program provide prisoners with the opportunity to enter employment post-release. This will help to break the cycle of poverty and crime re-infection by equipping prisoners with practical and hands on skills.
• Supporting prisoners’ families and ex-convicts to start income generating activities like micro businesses and farming practices to improve their livelihoods and afford the educational needs of their children.
• In Uganda, there is no formal structure and plan for free release of incarcerated elders above 80 years and the most ill or disabled, unlike in Europe and Asia, elderly prisoners are given free release in regard to their age and illness. Cultural and psychological disintegration is always head on their families due to un notification of in death or in between either.

 The outcomes

1. Ensuring research and development of essential evidence

2. Building equitable access to vocational skills.

3. Capacity building of refugees, prisoners through skills development

4. Mindset change for the refugees, prisoners and community

 5. Computer skills

Outputs

• Capacity building achieved 100%
• Policy formation. New policies are put in place concerning rare disease
• Quality services
• Reduced recidivism
• Secure employment after release or after resettlement, self-esteem and reliance

The Uganda National Medical Alliance for prisoners’ support uses digital technology as per its core professional areas

• Research , advocacy and humanitarian assistance
• Disseminations, communication and linkages
• Legalizations
• Social and economic transformation among refugees, prisoners, their families and ex-detainees in Uganda
• Health support and referrals

The Uganda National Medical Alliance for Prisoners’ Support (TUNMAPS) is a registered, private and public non- profit actor, responsive for steering strategies to strengthen rapid health economic relief, research, rehabilitation and mindset Development for all incarcerated Groups (prisoners), their families, ex-convicts, Islands, barracks, schools and refugees in Uganda. These strategies have been effected in cognitive partnership with the Government of the republic of Uganda since the inception of TUNMAPS in 2017. TUNMAPS is a pioneer service provider for health and research in closed settings in Uganda.

TUNMAPS has been operating in the following areas ai

• Health
• Vocational skills development:
• Education

TUNMAPS is currently serving 1000 prisoners including remand children, children detained with their parents, 900 refugees, 500 people in Islands, 1000 schoolchildren.

In one year, TUNMAPS will be serving 4000 people all together

In Five years, TUNMAPS will be serving 15,000 people in closed settings

Communities have knowledge and expertise that are essential to developing sustainable and contextual solutions to the problems that a community faces. Solutions created by external parties such as NGOs or government developmental projects often overlook the complexities of a community and might even further contribute to the problem that it aimed to fix or create unexpected and unwanted effects therefore connecting with the community is crucial

The stakeholders include

• The Uganda National Medical Alliance for prisoners’ Support (TUNMAPS)
• Lyantonde District local government,
• Uganda Aids Commission (UAC)

• Ministry of Gender, Labour and social Development,
• Office of the prime minister, department of refugees
• Ministry of ICT & National Guidance
• Inter-religious council of Uganda
• Parliament of the republic of Uganda
• Uganda National NGO Forum
•  Ministry of internal affairs/UPS
•  Ministry of Health
• Uganda Network of Aids service Organization (UNASO)

TUNMAPS builds trust within community and small businesses not limited to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) through:

Collaborating with leaders within the community ai religious, LCI, II,III,IV,V, head teachers, Village Health Teams, police, district officials, youth leaders and health facilities to know about the organization and support the organization can give them and allowing them participate in the organizational community projects

Participating in all community activities, networking with CSOs, government and private sectors, contributing to its economic growth and development, employing workers from the community, allowing volunteers to work at the organization and sharing with them the annual reports and accountabilities, carrying out needs assessment of the community and prioritizing their needs and delivering services directly to them.

TUNMAPS already started achieving its current years’ goals strengthening people in closed settings to acquire sustainable development skills i.e.

Many people have already acquired relevant training and skills, Jobs and capital finance, At least 50% of the Government officials and other technocrats in Uganda now know the impact of vocational skills development support to Refugees, Prisoners and their families.

95% of Uganda Prisons have accessed these services through Home and Prisons visits and monitoring and relevant families in communities are now able to leave under sustainable development and reliance in communities where we operate, or refugee settlements, prisons and remand homes.

In addition to the above, jobs have created, people have accessed relevant training and skills development because of our skills enhancement implementation in relevant communities in Uganda More to the above, it's our initiative that to the present day, the Government can also advocate for people in detention facilities in Uganda.

The next 5 years goals, TUNMAPS aim to continue re-engineering, while promoting and focusing on vocational skills development, Social behavioural change and communication campaign to increase families, technocrats, religious leaders, Government and foreign agencies’ involvement in supporting vocational skills development among incarcerated groups and their families, refugees, those in Islands in Uganda.

Through formal research, TUNMAPS aim to implement Government Reporting, transparency, tracking, referral and response guidelines and partners case management, by ensuring the fidelity of all planned interventions and provide data for measuring the impact of sub-grantees tasks through research and advocacy.

 In Uganda, 80 % of the prisoners are least educated i.e. with secondary level as their highest level of education and do not have any vocational skills. In 2022, the Uganda police annual report reported that theft cases greatly increased by 41% to 61,508 compared to 43,583 reported in 2021, all these are motivated by desires for economic gain, unemployment, underemployment, illiteracy and poverty.

In practice, however 62% of the refugees have restricted access to formal education and hindered by high unemployment rates, lack of access to education, vocational training, language barrier, stigma and discrimination   thus two thirds of refugees live in poverty and cannot meet their families’ needs.

It is for the above challenges that TUNMAPS is applying for to Truist Foundation and MIT Solve together with partners aims to vocational skills not limited to digital skills to prevent recidivism and crime rates. In addition, to promote safe work, employment, self-reliance, resilience, economic growth and development, positive contribution to the community and rebuild their lives after serving their sentences, after resettlement, when they return to their home countries. 

Therefore, Truist Foundation and MIT Solve will add value to TUNMAPS as an organization through providing funds, participating  at all level of the project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, networking. Further more collaborating with you will make TUNMAPS famous and will change peoples’ lives in closed settings as no one is immune about being sentenced, but we continue living in adherence to life of imprisonment

TUNMAPS partnership goals

• Funding the project activities
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation
• To continue supporting the target population in Uganda to attain relief and sustainable development, because there's no political Volume which have come out openly to to advocate for people in detention facilities

·         Participate in planning and implementation

·         Providing reports to partners

·         Carrying out research and advocacy

·         Documentation and dissemination of results

 we aim to continue strengthening networking, corporations, collaborations and scaling up  partnership with other key stake holders not limited to Government of the republic of Uganda, local district governments, local village teams, religious institutions and international corporates

TUNMAPS being a committed member and partnership agency with financial intelligence authority, we aim re engineer receipts for all cash expenses, using cash books, conduct cash counts both weekly and monthly, evaluate budgetary monitoring, gearing daily cash receipt books, mail tabulations with effective auditors both internal and external auditors.

We also aim to scale up fraud prevention by employing internal and external quality control measures, SOPs, systems for fraud detection, monitor and review fraud responses, monitoring and evaluation to investigate timely investigations and corrective action measures.