A delegation of female corrections professionals from Afghanistan arrived in Nebraska on Saturday, October 8, 2011 as part of the cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS). The group’s focus is on the administration and management of women in prison. They will train at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York and the NDCS Staff Training Academy in Lincoln in areas of particular need in Afghan women’s prisons, including nursery care, prisoner classification, and educational and vocational programming. Trainees will also study reintegration programs at a community corrections center.

Delegates will each receive a training completion certificate at a brief ceremony at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 20, 2011. Media who would like to attend may contact Kyle Poppert at kyle.poppert@nebraska.gov. Media representatives will have the opportunity for individual interviews, photographs, and video footage prior to the ceremony.

In March 2011, Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) entered into a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) for the purpose of providing training on best practices in corrections with key foreign officials selected by INL. The purpose of these activities is to enhance the capacity of foreign governments to safely, securely, and humanely manage their correctional facilities.

Nebraska has hosted training groups from Costa Rica and Tunisia and continues to host corrections professionals from various countries through the agreement with INL.

For more information regarding the INL corrections programs, contact Susan Pittman, Senior Press Advisor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, U.S. Department of State at 202-647-2842 or PittmanSR@state.gov.