FORWARD
Ensuring that the rule of law applies equally to all segments of society—in particularwith respect to vulnerable groups such as women offenders and children in conflict with thelaw—is a continuing challenge experienced throughout the world. On the basis of thisrecognition, Workshop 1 on the “Role of the United Nations standards and norms in crime
prevention and criminal justice in support of effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal
justice systems: experiences and lessons learned in meeting the unique needs of women andchildren, in particular the treatment and social reintegration of offenders” was convened on
13 April 2015 in Doha, Qatar within the framework of the Thirteenth United NationsCongress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI), a
member of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network(PNI), was responsible for the administration of this workshop as an official component ofthe Congress, and played the leading role in its organization and preparation. The United
Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment ofOffenders (UNAFEI), as one of the PNI institutes, offered to take an active role in organizing
Panel I on the treatment of women offenders. Additionally, UNAFEI offered to publish thereport of the workshop.
The workshop aimed to describe the unique needs of women and children impacted by
the criminal justice system, assess the status of implementation of relevant United Nations
standards and norms, and develop effective strategies to ensure women offenders andchildren in conflict with the law receive fair and equal treatment that addresses their uniqueneeds. The workshop, consisting of a panel on women offenders and a panel on children in
conflict with the law, offered an opportunity for government representatives, experts andpractitioners to exchange information on strategies and best practices for addressing theunique needs of women and children. The conclusions of the panel discussions, assummarized by the moderator, appear at the end of the Workshop Report, which is publishedherein.
The present publication is a compilation of the summary of all the presentations anddiscussions of the Workshop, and all the reference papers made available to the workshop.
It is our great pleasure to publish this comprehensive report of the workshop to further
disseminate its outcomes globally.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the moderator and all of the presentersand pannellists of the workshop—the 18 prominent experts from all over the world without
whose strenuous contributions the workshop would not have been such an outstanding
success. Furthermore, I would like to thank the UNODC and RWI for their leadership inorganizing the workshop, and to all the individuals whose unselfish efforts behind the scenes
contributed significantly to the realization of both the workshop and this publication.

-1-Finally, I am convinced that this publication is essential reading material for all those
who are interested in offender treatment and reintegration, including criminal justicepractitioners, policy makers, and academics. I am also confident that it will serve as avaluable reference source for international, as well as local, training activities.
March 2016

YAMASHITA Terutoshi
Director of UNAFEI-2-