CHAIR’S SUMMARY
Enhancing Technical Assistance to Reduce Reoffending and Promote Inclusive Societies
Tokyo, Japan
18 – 20 October 2022

Opening Ceremony
1. Mr. MORINAGA Taro, Director of the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI), delivered opening remarks and welcomed theparticipants to the meeting. The fourteen experts from the field of crime prevention and criminal justiceand twelve UNAFEI faculty members who participated in the meeting are listed in Annex 1.
2. The discussion was chaired by Ms. IRIE Junko, Deputy Director of UNAFEI. Recalling the theme of theevent – “Enhancing Technical Assistance to Reduce Reoffending and Promote an Inclusive Society” – theChair elaborated the purpose of the meeting: to identify promising practices to reduce reoffending,
implementation challenges in developing countries, and the role of technical assistance in overcoming thechallenges. Details of the specific programmes and technical assistance projects to reduce reoffendingthat were presented during the discussion session are available in Annex 2.
Country Presentations
3. The country presentations were designed to illustrate some of the ways in which criminal justice systems
around the world are pursuing efforts to prevent crime and promote reintegration by reducing reoffending.
The presentations identified numerous challenges to the implementation of effective measures indeveloping countries. Unsurprisingly, prison overcrowding, which was noted to have resulted largely
from overreliance on custodial sentences and prolonged pretrial detention, undermines rehabilitative
prison environments. The ability of criminal justice systems to respond to this issue is limited by endemic
problems such as the lack of financial resources, lack of equipment and facilities, insufficient staff andinadequate training. These challenges are exacerbated by the lack of administrative structures to handle
community release schemes.
4. Prison environments remain a significant obstacle to the success of – and even the ability to provide –prison-based rehabilitation programmes. In Cambodia, the underdeveloped state of prison facilities puts
needed programmes on hold, resulting in the promotion primarily of agricultural programmes, which does
not provide offenders with marketable skills. In Samoa, prisons are managed by police officers, which
creates clear conflicts of interest and can undermine the rehabilitative purpose of imprisonment, while
the prevalence of organized crime within prisons undermines rehabilitation efforts in Brazil. Kenya
reported a lack of training and manuals on rehabilitative practices, which is an issue faced by many
developing countries. Efforts to expand non-custodial measures and community support are often frustrated
by lack of public awareness and understanding of the purpose of community corrections. Most countries
reported issues with the stigmatization of offenders by the community and weak political support for or
prioritization of offender rehabilitation, and strong cultural traditions and attitudes against offenders werereported in Timor-Leste, Cambodia and Samoa. The absence of disaggregated data and reliable statistics is
an issue that impacts all aspects of the criminal justice system in developing countries. Data on arrests,
imprisonment and reoffending can help policymakers and practitioners throughout the system makebetter rehabilitative decisions.
5. Despite these significant challenges, the country presentations identified promising practices aimed at
reducing reoffending.  Timor-Leste has, on its own initiative and with the support of technical assistanceproviders, developed measures for reducing reoffending that include assessment and evaluation procedures,
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a court-supervised release process, and family reintegration strategies. Samoa has had success with art
and painting programmes, which are low cost, easy to implement and can result in income to the offenderand the correctional institution through revenue sharing upon the sale of the artwork. Also in Samoa, theGraffiti Project, conducted in partnership with the private sector, was reported as effective to make youth
realize the difficulty of removing graffiti from buildings and preventing the practice of graffiti generally.
Finally, although underutilized, Samoa reported that its indigenous infrastructure provides opportunities
for greater partnership in reducing reoffending through community-based measures. In Cambodia, prisonbased vocational training programmes and subsequent employment were identified as factors that could
significantly reduce reoffending. In Kenya, the probation service has succeeded in obtaining greater
resources by demonstrating its value to key criminal justice stakeholders (particularly judges) in several
ways. Social inquiry reports are used to assess offenders prior to the imposition of a sentence, andinformal social control (family and community) and a multidimensional, multi-stakeholder approach isrecognized as key to reducing reoffending, as demonstrated by Kenya’s use of Community Probation
Volunteers. Kenya’s experience also demonstrated the important role of probation in handling the
emergency release of prisoners during the Covid-19 pandemic. As Brazil faces issues of overcrowding,non-prosecution agreements are used as a measure to avoid incarceration, and “semi-open” prison regimes
are used to facilitate rehabilitation by promoting work release so that offenders can find employment insociety.
Discussion Session
Session 1: Use of non-custodial measures to prevent reoffending
6. While prison overcrowding can impact countries at any stage of development, the impact on developing
countries is particularly severe. It was noted that non-custodial measures are necessary to decongest
prisons, and they have the added benefit of being more effective at rehabilitating most offenders andmaintaining family ties. The discussion identified challenges that many countries face in implementing
such measures: (i) lack of an appropriate legal framework (inadequate range of non-custodial sentences
and measures, lack of probation and parole systems, and the absence of gender-responsive measures aswell as measures that address special needs, such as drug use disorders and mental health needs); (ii)insufficient development of sentencing guidelines that would be needed to avoid overreliance on custodial
sentences by courts; (iii) low levels of awareness and understanding among other key stakeholders,
including the police, prosecutors, correctional authorities, policymakers and the general public; (iv) limited
infrastructure, capacity and resources; (v) insufficient cooperation between the relevant authorities andwith the private sector and representatives of the community; and (vi) insufficient research on theeffectiveness of different sentences and measures.
7. Given the relative insufficiency of legal frameworks and low awareness, technical assistance projects may
require extensive training materials and workshops, and the translation of materials into local languages.
Other valuable resources may include the creation or revision of forms to help social workers and judges
assess risk and analyse treatment options for offenders who would benefit from non-custodial sanctions
or measures. Electronic monitoring was also discussed as a measure to facilitate community-based
treatment, and it was reported that it could contribute to reducing reoffending, provided that it is used,
where appropriate, in conjunction with psychosocial and other forms of tailored support, and that the riskof net-widening is taken into consideration. The difficulty of assessing the effectiveness of these approaches
was discussed, and it was suggested that evidence of effectiveness is important because of the scepticism
that some justice systems or policymakers have toward non-custodial measures due to the perceptionthat they lack a deterrent effect.
Session 2: Rehabilitation in the custodial environment
8. The projects and practices presented during the session demonstrated the critical importance of technicalassistance projects in addressing and making meaningful improvement to custodial environments indeveloping countries. Staff training on the implementation of the Nelson Mandela Rules, the Bangkok
Rules and other relevant standards and norms is an important first step not only to ensure that personnel
understand and respect the relevant human rights standards but also to identify performance gaps and102

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urgent priorities. In addition to training, many of the projects presented focused on introducing offenderassessment and classification tools in order to enhance prison safety and security and to enhance theability of correctional officials to provide individualized treatment. Meaningful prison work programmes
were also discussed as a means to support social reintegration of offenders by providing offenders withvocational skills and increase their employability upon release. In a developed country, offenders who
worked in the prison industry programme are reported as being only one third as likely to reoffend. Whilethese programmes have great potential in developing countries, it was observed that the creation of arehabilitative environment in line with the Nelson Mandela Rules, the Bangkok Rules and other relevant
United Nations standards and norms is a precondition to success.
Session 3: Effective supervision and support of offenders in the community
9. The discussion focused on the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships to ensure effective support
for offenders in the community. The social partnership model was introduced as a means to organize theprivate sector to provide offenders with knowledge, resources and opportunities necessary to succeed insociety, and the offenders who benefited from these partnerships often developed pride in their vocational
accomplishments and their successful rehabilitation. The importance of family contact and continued
engagement in society during incarceration was also stressed as a means to facilitate reintegration upon
release, but practices should be gender-responsive and provide alternative solutions, such as halfway
houses, when family contact is not practical or is inappropriate. To promote a multi-stakeholder,multidisciplinary approach to offender rehabilitation and reintegration, national action plans and requiringknowledge of offender rehabilitation for the certification of certain professionals, such as social workers
and psychologists, can be considered. Additionally, peer support groups were discussed as an effective
measure to maintain offender motivation and progress toward rehabilitation while reintegrating into
society.
Session 4: Measuring the impact of strategies to reduce reoffending
10. The presentations and interventions introduced sophisticated and innovative approaches to measuring
the impact of strategies to reduce reoffending, such as demonstrating programme accountability andeffectiveness through cost-benefit analysis. Another approach involved the integration of data collection
systems and the use of statistical models for programme evaluation. As many developing countries lackreliable data, technical assistance to support data collection and the compilation of crime statistics can add
sustained value to a criminal justice system. On the issue of defining “reoffending”, some scepticism was
expressed regarding the adoption of a single metric or indicator, and it was suggested that technicalassistance focus on encouraging the adoption of clear definitions, which may vary somewhat in eachcountry and each individual project, and providing guidance on the use of accurate terminology. It wasalso stated that issuing identity documents is a problem in many developing countries, leading to the
problem of identification of individuals and tracking them through the justice system. In addition to theimportance of quantitative data, it was also observed that complementary qualitative data, whether
through clinical practice or in the form of personal stories of offenders, can help build a narrative toinfluence policymakers and the media on the value of successful rehabilitation and reintegration strategies.
Recommendations
11. Participants shared the following ideas on enhancing technical assistance for developing countries tosupport their efforts to reduce reoffending:(a) Use of non-custodial measures to prevent reoffending(i) Provide assistance through a step-by-step approach that targets the availability and quality of noncustodial measures and the ability to apply them effectively. This approach may require detailed
review of legislation and sentencing policies (e.g., sentencing and prosecutorial guidelines) to ensurethat non-custodial measures are available, are gender responsive and can be properly applied, as
well as review of substantive criminal law to ensure that outdated penal offences and punishments
are repealed and that sanctions, including non-custodial measures and custodial sentences, are103

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proportionate to the offence;(ii) Provide key stakeholder groups (such as law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges, probation
officers, lawyers, victims, offenders, social services and non-governmental organizations, community
volunteers) with information and training on the functions and use of non-custodial measures, forexample, through the preparation of handbooks, toolkits and other practical resources;(iii) Promote closer cooperation among criminal justice decision makers and representatives ofcommunity-based-services agencies in order to identify and respond to the needs of offenders, inparticular members of vulnerable populations, and promote utilization of alternative and restorative
justice processes, including customary justice mechanisms and indigenous infrastructure, in linewith the domestic legal system and relevant international standards and norms;(iv) Promote the implementation of non-custodial measures that are based on individualized assessments,
which may include psychosocial and other tailored support and protocols for referral from criminal
justice agencies to the respective health, mental health, social welfare or other agencies.
(b) Rehabilitation in the custodial environment(i) Focus on raising prison conditions and substantial compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules, theBangkok Rules and other relevant United Nations standards and norms as a basis for effective
treatment programmes, based on the understanding that the prison environment directly impacts
inmates’ prospects of rehabilitation and reintegration;(ii) Provide training on the Nelson Mandela Rules, the Bangkok Rules and other relevant United
Nations standards and norms;(iii) Introduce offender assessment and classification tools to enhance prison safety and security andenable the provision of individually tailored treatment programmes;(iv) Facilitate contact with family and friends and supplement visitation with use of technology andother means insofar as it is conducive to maintaining ties;(v) Facilitate enhanced access to treatment and other support services;(vi) Develop and promote vocational-training and life-skills-development programmes that are notguided solely by existing gender stereotypes and without undue influence from private actors,
including through the establishment of prison industry schemes and in partnership with thecommunity, which may include the private sector;(vii) Promote inter-agency and multi-stakeholder cooperation to ensure the continuity of care as theoffender moves from the custodial to the community setting.
(c) Effective supervision and support of offenders in the community(i) Promote partnership with the private sector to create employment opportunities for offenders, toprovide entrepreneurship training and small business guidance to enable offenders to start theirown businesses, and to expand access to capital and other resources for offender rehabilitation andreintegration;(ii) Raise public awareness and enhance engagement of stakeholders, including the private sector, by
publicizing ex-offenders' positive experiences of rehabilitation through employment andentrepreneurship, and involve ex-offenders as peer counsellors and role models in rehabilitation andreintegration programmes;(iii) Support community corrections agencies in identifying new community partnerships including
with universities and other educational institutions, social welfare organizations and volunteers,
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and involving them in offender rehabilitation and reintegration;(iv) Assist countries with the establishment of post-release support programmes and facilities, such as
halfway houses, aftercare treatment centres, case management services, employment andeducational programmes, etc., in line with the Tokyo Rules;(v) Encourage partnerships with peer support groups with the aim of ensuring ongoing community
support beyond the term of the criminal justice intervention.
(d) Measuring the impact of strategies to reduce reoffending(i) Clearly define “reoffending” and similar terms within the context of specific studies, reports andtechnical assistance projects;(ii) Provide sustainable, progressive (step-by-step) assistance to countries in their development of datacollection systems and processes for the analysis and publication of statistics in the area of crime
prevention and criminal justice;(iii) Incorporate data collection and analysis with the implementation of evidence-based technicalassistance projects;(iv) Promote quantitative approaches to measure the effectiveness of strategies to reduce reoffending,
improve rehabilitation programmes and demonstrate their impact – reliable data can convince
politicians and the public of the positive impact of a project as well as enhance motivation offrontline officers to pursue and expand effective practices;(v) At the same time, promote qualitative approaches to effectiveness by, for example, collecting
stories of success and challenges – both by and about offenders – and implementing a professional
media strategy to raise public awareness and understanding.
(e) Measures to enhance collaboration and information-sharing among technical assistance providers(i) The PNI should, in close cooperation with the UNODC, facilitate information sharing on promisingtechnical assistance projects and practices in the field of crime prevention and criminal justicethrough regular in-person meetings and other forums;(ii) Governments, the private sector and other donors are encouraged to provide adequate financial
and other resources to ensure the ability of technical assistance providers to engage in suchcollaboration and information-sharing forums.
Closing of the Session
12. Prior to adjournment, the PNI experts collectively expressed thanks to UNAFEI for organizing the eventand for arranging an online lecture from the Tokyo Public Prosecutors’ Office and study visits to theSupreme Court of Japan, including a courtesy call on Justice Toru Sakai, the Higashi Nihon (East Japan)
Adult Medical Corrections Center and Shisui-en Halfway House, which enriched the meeting and improved
their understanding of the Japanese criminal justice system and practices to reduce reoffending.
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ANNEX 1PARTICIPANT LIST
（In-person participants）
1. Ms. Jee Aei LEE, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, United Nations Office on Drugs andCrime (UNODC)
2. Ms. Fumiko AKASHI, Consultant, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
3. Mr. Leif VILLADSEN, Deputy Director, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice ResearchInstitute (UNICRI)
4. Mr. Andrew Karokora MUNANURA, Legal and Training Consultant, United Nations African Institute for
the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI)
5. Mr. Douglas DURAN CHAVARRIA, Director, United Nations Latin American Institute for the Preventionof Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD)
6. Dr. Vincent Cheng YANG, Senior Associate, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform & Criminal
Justice Policy (ICCLR)
7. Mr. Josh OUNSTED, Thematic Leader, Access to Justice, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights
and Humanitarian Law (RWI)
8. Dr. Phiset SA-ARDYEN, Executive Director, Thailand Institute of Justice（TIJ）
9. Ms. Chontit CHUENURAH, Director of Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders, Thailand
Institute of Justice（TIJ）（In-person observers）（TIJ）
1. Dr. Matti Tapani JOUTSEN, Special Advisor, Thailand Institute of Justice
2. Mr. Clarence Joseph Thomsen NELSON, Justice, Supreme Court of Samoa
3. Mr. Severino Hunt GAÑA Jr., International Director, Asia Crime Prevention Foundation (ACPF)(Online participants)
1. Ms. Marcella CHAN, Director of Programs, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform & Criminal
Justice Policy (ICCLR)
2. Dr. Mana YAMAMOTO, Research Expert, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice ResearchInstitute (UNICRI)（UNAFEI Faculty）
1. Mr. MORINAGA Taro, Director
2. Ms. IRIE Junko, Deputy Director
3. Ms. KIDA Makiko, Professor
4. Ms. TAKAI Ayaka, Professor
5. Mr. YAMANA Rompei, Professor
6. Mr. KUBO Hiroshi, Professor

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7. Mr. OKUDA Yoshinori, Professor
8. Mr. NAKAYAMA Noboru, Professor
9. Ms. MIYAGAWA Tsubura, Professor
10. Mr. OTSUKA Takeaki, Professor
11. Ms. TANAKA Mii, Professor
12. Mr. Tom SCHMID, Linguistic Adviser

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ANNEX 2
REDUCING REOFFENDING: PROMISING PRACTICES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECTS
Non-custodial Measures
With the objective of promoting the effective use of non-custodial measures, UNODC’s project in Sri Lanka
undertook a detailed assessment, organized a series of webinars with national stakeholders, convened anational forum for sharing recommendations and assisted in the formulation of a national strategic plan. To
increase the capacity of criminal justice actors, webinars and capacity-building workshops were conductedin each of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka to reach as many practitioners as possible nationwide. UNODC
also endeavoured to raise awareness on the rationale and benefits of using non-custodial measures throughdevelopment of a handbook on community-based correction procedure, assistance with the offendermanagement system and developing a training module on custodial measures for judges. To maximize theuse and reference of its tools, UNODC translated its tools into local languages wherever possible.
TIJ has been working to promote the implementation of the Bangkok Rules by working on gender-sensitive
solutions, including preparation, together with the UNODC, of a Toolkit on Gender-Responsive Non-Custodial
Measures. The Toolkit was the product of an expert meeting in Bangkok and aims to ensure gender equality
in the use and application of non-custodial measures, addressing the negative impact of incarceration on
women convicted of minor crimes. The Toolkit draws on the Tokyo Rules and the Bangkok Rules to offer
non-custodial sentencing options for countries seeking to implement gender-responsive policies. To promoteand disseminate the Toolkit, it was translated into Thai, and a workshop was held to promote it.
ILANUD has designed a matrix of risk and protection factors aimed at building restorative plans in juvenile
justice processes. The matrix has been used by the psychosocial teams of the Costa Rican judiciary to assist
judges and social workers to gather and analyse treatment options for juveniles. The matrix includes 13
protection factors and 24 risk factors, such as education, work, socioeconomic and family factors, andrelationships. Importantly, the tool does not stigmatize the juvenile and is used to identify positive treatment
opportunities. ILANUD introduced the study in Argentina which demonstrated the impact of electronicmonitoring in conjunction with psychosocial support on the reduction of recidivism compared to imprisonment.
It compared the re-arrest rates of two groups of similar population based on factors including the seriousnessof the crime: the first group is made up of individuals whose last period under supervision was spent underelectronic monitoring, and the other one spent their last period under supervision in prison. The result
showed that the group released on electronic monitoring experienced reduced re-arrest rates of between 11
and 16 percentage points, or approximately half the baseline recidivism rate.
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:28548029
Rehabilitative Custodial Environments
UNODC is engaged in a three-year technical assistance project in Ghana to strengthen the compliance of the
Ghana Prisons Service with the Nelson Mandela Rules. The project’s main goals are: (i) to improve the mosturgent prison conditions, (ii) to implement a classification tool and (iii) to implement rehabilitation programmes
for social reintegration. In-person training on the Nelson Mandela Rules is targeting 1,000 out of Ghana’s
approximately 9,000 prison officers, complemented by UNODC’s e-learning course on the Rules. Prison
conditions are being improved by prioritizing urgent needs such as access to health care and other basic
services, and a new classification tool aims at enhancing prisoners’ rehabilitation and prison security andsafety procedures. To enhance rehabilitation, the project is focusing on improving prisoners’ contact with theoutside world and providing education programmes and vocational training, psychosocial support and postrelease social reintegration measures. Legislative assistance to update and establish laws on prison
management and community service and parole regulations was highlighted as an important measure forthe sustainability of the improvements made during the project.
ICCLR introduced CORCAN – Canada’s prison industry programme through which inmates manufacture
goods (furniture, office supplies, etc.) and provide services (laundry, farming, etc.). The programme is afundamental component of the offender rehabilitation scheme by helping incarcerated offenders gain work
experience, earn money, learn vocational skills and earn trade certificates.   Involvement in CORCAN108

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increases employability after release, and those who worked for CORCAN are only one third as likely toreoffend. It was noted that from 2017 to 2018, inmates earned 14,100 vocational certificates; 61 per cent ofoffenders employed with CORCAN are granted day parole; and 58 per cent of offenders who obtained a tradecertification found community employment in their trade. The overall results were regarded as positive.
UNICRI has broad experience introducing prison-based assessment tools – coupled with training on
interviewing techniques – to countries seeking to enhance rehabilitative environments in prison, and thesetools have been applied to the assessment of violent extremist offenders. UNICRI’s assistance to Mali helped
improve rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremist offenders in and after detention, and prisonbased assessment was complemented by a programme outside prison to promote alternatives to violence.
The programme also supported prison management by delivering capacity-building, gap analysis anddevelopment of a Risk Assessment Tool to determine the level of radicalization leading to violence, and bytraining prison staff to use the tool. UNICRI is developing plans to provide assistance to Moldova to strengthen
the inter-agency coordination mechanism to ensure seamless transition from prison to the community, andassistance to the Central African Republic to introduce an offender classification system and training to help
correctional officials identify the individualized needs of each detainee. UNICRI is also planning to use
artificial intelligence and related technologies to facilitate the provision of services, including human-centred
rehabilitation.
Effective supervision and support of offenders in the community
ILANUD has provided legal technical assistance to El Salvador in conjunction with the UNDP to revise thelegal framework to improve possibilities for social reintegration, mainly of individuals affiliated with gangs,
and to draft a restorative justice law. ILANUD also supported the adoption of regulations to facilitate theexpungement of criminal records in Costa Rica. By expunging criminal records for minor crimes (up to athree-year sentence) immediately upon completion of the sentence, the measure is intended to increase theemployability of offenders. For more serious crimes, wait periods for expungement increase from 1 to 3 to
10 years. Previously, there was a 10-year wait period for expungement of all criminal records regardless ofthe seriousness of the offence.
TIJ supports the social partnership model for social reintegration by offering practical work experience towomen scheduled for release from prison.   The project offers work experience in massage therapy, spa
treatment and coffeehouses and included the opening of a museum on women prisoners, which tells personal
stories of their pathways to crime and to rehabilitation. The aim of the museum is to enhance publicawareness by providing a detailed understanding of the complex lives of women prisoners. TIJ also introduced
its “Hygiene Street Food for Chance” programme, though which it partnered with the private sector toprovide food-industry training from professional chefs and to provide women with food carts to sell street
food in a hygienic manner.
UNAFRI has assisted a project to enhance family contact in Uganda. In Africa, stigmatization of offenders is
a serious problem that often results in their ostracization from society.  The project, “From Prison BackHome”, forms the bedrock of Uganda’s rehabilitation and reintegration programme, asserting that, to bringan offender back into society, a needle is required to re-stitch the torn social fabric. The project advocatedstarting rehabilitation immediately upon incarceration and maintaining family contact throughout thecustodial sentence. Other measures promoted by the project include vocational training for offenders andlinking inmates with trade schools and universities around the world, ensuring that inmates are exposed tothe outside world through access to print and broadcast media, and promoting communication between
inmates and their families through social workers. UNAFRI is also encouraging the government of Uganda
to establish a legal framework for community care.
Measuring the impact of strategies to reduce reoffending
TIJ developed a model to prove the cost-benefit of its projects to its stakeholders. TIJ is following up withparticipants through detailed interviews within eight months of programme completion. One of the data
points is income earned through the field in which the offender was trained. Direct costs and opportunity
costs of reoffending are also estimated, as well as the social costs of crime and related governmental
expenditures.  The reoffending rate of the programme is also compared with the national reoffending rate.
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For each dollar invested in the programme, TIJ has calculated 8.2 dollars in benefits to society. TIJ hopes toapply this analysis to all of its programmes in the future.
UNAFEI introduced Japan’s practices on data collection through the System for Crime and Recidivism
Prevention (SCRP), which links up data from public prosecutors’ offices, the Correction Bureau and the
Rehabilitation Bureau. This has made it possible to conduct cross-organization evaluation. The Ministry ofJustice Case Assessment Tool (MCJA) programme was developed to identify the likelihood of reoffending
among juveniles and involved the statistical analysis of 6,000 juveniles admitted to juvenile classification
homes. The analysis found that a substance abuse treatment programme was effective at reducing reoffending
within the first six months of programme completion. It was observed that when providing technicalassistance, evidence-based practices need to be implemented over the long term, realistically and sustainably.
UNAFEI also shared Japan’s experience providing technical assistance to Uzbekistan on data collection andthe publication of crime statistics in the form of white papers. The importance of taking a long-term approachand pursuing steady, incremental success was underscored.

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