The Fundación Parque Metropolitano La Libertad signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Justice and Peace to promote the skills and abilities of the prison population to strengthen their social insertion process. The agreement seeks to promote the social insertion and capacity building of the people under the custody of the General Directorate for Social Adaptation.
With this agreement, young people and adults will be provided with education and training opportunities to enhance their skills, thus facilitating their insertion into society and breaking poverty circles.
Prison overcrowding and the lack of social reinsertion programs are some of the problems faced by the Costa Rican prison system, which is why these programs are essential.
“Our prison overcrowding is a subject constantly debated by different sectors at the national and international level, precisely because of the multifactorial crisis that the penitentiary system is going through, which is why a ministerial policy that favors this type of agreement of socio-cultural value is transcendental,” explained Exleine Sánchez Torres, Vice-Minister of Justice.
In addition, Sánchez explained that the “only objective is to promote the insertion of this population and promote the ideal conditions that allow a harmonious return to civil society and that, in addition, it becomes a tool that does not enable reoffending.”
This agreement will give participants access to activities such as: building their life projects, preparing for their integration into the labor market, preventing risky behavior, education and training programs on environmental and agricultural issues, and promoting their artistic and cultural potential, among others.
In addition to acquiring tools to join the productive sector, the beneficiaries will have the opportunity to develop their skills and abilities.
“Culture transforms lives and is a way that allows many people access to a better future. This agreement lets us support a population that finds it difficult to access training and education opportunities and who, like everyone else, also has that right; therefore, with this initiative, we want to provide these young people, adults, and seniors with a key to help them enter the country’s productive sector when they return to society,” said Ernesto Calvo, Vice Minister of Culture.
According to the fourth quarterly report carried out by the Research and Statistics Unit of the National Institute of Criminology belonging to the General Directorate of Social Adaptation of the Ministry of Justice and Peace, as of October 31, 2021, the prison population, national and foreign, totaled 15,516 individuals, of which 96.38% are men and 3.62% are women.
“Freedom has been a fundamental human desire since the beginning of time; therefore, support through job training and access to education and culture are critical aspects to building a better society for everyone,” concluded Patricio Morera Víquez, executive director of Parque La Libertad.
