The Directorate General of Penitentiary Administration held its traditional ceremony for presenting New Year's greetings and awards to staff. Director General Aliou Ciss took the opportunity to advocate for the signing of the long-awaited Penitentiary Administration staff statute, the strengthening of staff training, and recruitment to bolster staff numbers. The ceremony also served as a platform to advocate for improved detention and working conditions for staff.

According to Inspector Aliou Ciss, this ceremony, beyond its traditional character, is an opportunity for the Director General to take stock of the past year's activities and to give new directions for the current year.

"In the area of security, efforts have been made and have contributed to the considerable decrease in the escape rate thanks to professional and resilient men and women. The same is true of the mortality rate, which has seen a notable decrease," he said.

Social reintegration at the heart of the priorities

The Director General stressed that the Penitentiary Administration has placed the preparation of prisoners for social reintegration at the heart of its roadmap, in line with the State policy which created a social reintegration fund for the Penitentiary Administration, through decree 2023-679 of March 23, 2023 concerning the organization and operation of the Ministry of Justice.

According to him, this lever aims upstream at improving detention conditions by humanizing detention, focusing on promoting and protecting the rights of people under the jurisdiction of the courts, and downstream at socio-professional integration which constitutes a real factor in the fight against recidivism.

As part of preparing prisoners for social reintegration and contributing to development and sovereignty objectives in the agricultural sector in Senegal, an agricultural campaign was undertaken in 12 penitentiary establishments during the year 2025, following the receipt of seeds and agricultural inputs offered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock.

In addition to this, there are training and learning programs, education for minors and socio-cultural activities marked in most penitentiary establishments by giants of traditional wrestling.

Concrete achievements to improve detention conditions

Director General Aliou Ciss believes that a good social reintegration policy cannot be achieved without improving the conditions of detention and working conditions of prison staff.

Among the notable achievements, he cited the increase in the daily food allowance for prisoners, from 1,152 CFA francs between 2022 and 2024 to 1,300 CFA francs in 2025, the recruitment of professional cooks in penitentiary establishments to improve the quality of food for prisoners, the increase in reception capacity with the creation of more than 1,000 additional places and the education and training of more than 4,000 prisoners.

Regarding the improvement of working conditions and professional performance, capacity building efforts have been made through seminars, workshops and conferences for all bodies comprising the prison administration framework.

The general management also provided a significant batch of vehicles consisting of four hydro-jetting trucks, 19 mobile units, five ambulances, 46 pickup trucks and two water tanker trucks.

At the international level, the Penitentiary Administration has strengthened its international cooperation policy through seminars, conferences and study trips for its staff, as well as the signing of partnership agreements in the penitentiary field.

Outlook for 2026 and ongoing challenges

Regarding the outlook for 2026, Director General Aliou Ciss emphasized several priorities: advocating for the signing of the long-awaited statute for staff of the Penitentiary Administration, strengthening staff training, recruitment to increase staff numbers, launching the integrated penitentiary administration system for the digitalization of penitentiary registries in order to be in line with the State's policy on the technological New Deal, and improving the living conditions of prisoners by increasing the number of places and equipping penitentiary establishments.

Added to this list are the pleas for increasing and increasing the frequency of the implementation of alternative sentencing methods, reducing long periods of pre-trial detention, and building a headquarters for the general directorate of the prison administration as well as regional directorates.

"Despite the ambitions, prospects and efforts undertaken, it is clear that the Prison Administration faces major persistent challenges related to prison overcrowding, long periods of pre-trial detention and delays in the processing of judicial cases, insufficient staff, lack of specialized personnel and post-prison follow-up of prisoners after their release," he acknowledged.