"We are waiting for you to return back to the community and benefit it," Colonel Miqdad Sleiman, CRCD Director, addressed the inmates at the graduation.

The inmate selection criteria included their motivation to be enrolled, general health conditions, their level of studies, the length of their sentence and date of release. To ensure the sustainability of this initiative, UNODC supported the training of two CRCD officers who will provide the training to selected prisoners for the next four to five years. The CRCD will manage and ensure the follow up of the rehabilitation programmes from the selection of the prisoners until the certification, in continued cooperation with the Ministry of Labour. 

One of the inmates, speaking on the behalf of trainees, thanked all the parties for giving this opportunity to undergo the training, and to have a chance for successful reintegration into the community in the coming future.  

In his opening remarks, Mr. Alejandro Matta, UNODC Programme Management Officer for the prisoner rehabilitation component of the Global Programme, that "the new skills acquired through this training will positively contribute towards your personal and professional development in support of your successful reintegration into your communities and society at large."

By providing the prisoners with technical training with external certification and no mention of imprisonment, efforts support prisoners with better opportunities to get back to the job market after their release.

This initiative is being delivered thanks to the generous support of the State of Qatar within the framework of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration. Under the Global Programme, UNODC provides technical guidance to a selected group of countries, including the State of Palestine, on how to enhance prisoners rehabilitation programmes and promote their social reintegration into the community.