Online Meeting with the President of the Prison Union of North Macedonia

Online meeting with the president of the prison union of north macedonia

On the 20th of November, the M4Pris consortium organized an online meeting with Mr. Goran Risteski, President of the Prison Union of North Macedonia, to discuss future collaboration and expand the impact of the M4Pris project. Having followed the progress of M4Pris, Mr. Goran Risteski was fascinated to its goals and achievements, which aim to address the pressing needs of prison staff through innovative peer mentoring and training solutions.

While the core partnership of M4Pris remains strong, this meeting explored expanding the project’s reach beyond the originally targeted partner countries, extending its positive impact to North Macedonia through collaborations with associated partners like the Prison Union of North Macedonia.

This collaboration, combined with the involvement of the Romanian National Prison Union, positions M4Pris to make a greater difference across Europe.

The M4Pris project, titled “Peer Mentoring for Prison Staff”, focuses on designing a green training methodology and innovative mentoring programs to empower prison staff. The M4Pris consortium is a strong coalition of experts, including BrainLog (project coordinator), Fængselsforbundet (Danish Prison Federation), Approximar (Portugal), INÍCIO, National Union of Prison Workers (Romania), KU Leuven (Belgium), Asociatia Vis Juventum (Romania), and Athens Lifelong Learning Institute (Greece).

By addressing gaps in resources and tools for the justice system, the project contributes to a flexible and tailored professional development for staff across Europe. It also works toward aligning practices with European standards for prison staffing, ensuring unified rules that promote better working conditions, stronger employer protections, and improved outcomes for employees in the system.

This alignment with European standards forms a crucial foundation, but the consortium recognizes the need to go further by addressing specific gaps in prison staff training and professional development. This is where the M4Pris project contributes to impactful policy recommendations, driving change that benefits staff and their working environments. Moreover, with Mr. Goran Risteski and the Prison Union of North Macedonia we are expanding our expertise to create an even more powerful partnership focused on improving the conditions and professional development of prison staff.

The productive discussion with Mr. Goran Risteski emphasized the importance of strengthening the justice sector by increasing the expertise and capacity of prison staff. Partners agreed to keep in close contact and update Mr. Goran Risteski on the ongoing progress of M4Pris, and explore how future projects can build on these shared goals.