The objective of this project is to give potential funders and those interested in penal reform a set of basic documents that can be used to design and structure prison reform activities. They are simple but not simplistic and will to get across the following basic assumptions:

• Prisons cannot be considered in a vacuum
• A western model is not necessarily or usually the best
• Cultural change is central to prison reform
• Changes have to be owned by those working within the system if they are to be sustainable
• Real change takes time and needs a strategic approach
• There are a variety of potential entry points; they might include the management of tuberculosis, public health, juveniles or overcrowding
• Human rights is integral to everything that goes on in a prison; it is not something merely to be added on
• Resources are often very inadequate so projects need to liberate the creativity of prison staff
• Study visits to other systems have to be justified, purposeful and targeted
• Relationships with civil society are crucial