We cannot let convicts back into society without striving to improve their prosperity.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly here on Tuesday, asked correctional facilities in Indonesia to transform in order to create skillful and productive individuals.

"This must be done so that the people in these correctional facilities can compete once they go back into society," he added.

By having high skills and productivity, individuals trained within correctional facilities can compete at the national and global level, he elaborated.

"We cannot let convicts back into society without striving to improve their prosperity," he remarked.

The minister's call for the transformation of correctional facilities was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has plagued the world for the last two years.

Pandemic disruptions have led to global uncertainty and affected the health and economic sectors.

"Everyone is demanded to survive amid the turbulence of the pandemic," Laoly said.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), almost 114 million jobs were lost across the world due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The loss of jobs must be responded to accurately because there are 267,448 prisoners included within the productive age category," the minister stressed.

To this end, as one of the institutions responsible for advancing and developing human resources, correctional facilities must become more aware of the situation.

They can no longer utilize old methods in their programs, he opined.

All officials must become adaptive and innovative, including in formulating strategies to transform major challenges into opportunities, to contribute to realizing the Golden Indonesia goal by 2045.

"One of the things that can be done is by adjusting the prisoners training program with the available work opportunities," he said.

Earlier, during an online event on Monday, Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights, Omar Sharif Hiariej, had said that Indonesia's correctional system is lagging that of Western nations by 30 years.

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Translator: M Zulfikar, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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