A/C.3/65/L.5
Aware of the fact that many existing prison facilities worldwide were
designed primarily for male prisoners, whereas the number of female prisoners
has significantly increased over the years,
Recognizing that a number of female offenders do not pose a risk to
society and, as with all offenders, their imprisonment may render their social
reintegration more difficult,
Welcoming the development by the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime of the Handbook for Prison Managers and Policymakers on Women and
Imprisonment, 10
Welcoming also the invitation contained in Human Rights Council
resolution 10/2 of 25 March 2009 to Governments, relevant international and
regional bodies, national human rights institutions and non-governmental
organizations to devote greater attention to the issue of women and girls in
prison, including issues relating to the children of women in prison, with a
view to identifying and addressing the gender-specific aspects and challenges
related to this problem,
Welcoming further the collaboration between the World Health Organization
Regional Office for Europe and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
and taking note of the Kyiv Declaration on Women’s Health in Prisons, 11
Taking note of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, 12
Recalling Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
resolution 18/1 of 24 April 2009, in which the Commission requested the
Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to
convene in 2009 an open-ended intergovernmental expert group meeting to
develop, consistent with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners and the Tokyo Rules, supplementary rules specific to the treatment
of women in detention and in custodial and non-custodial settings; welcomed
the offer by the Government of Thailand to act as host to the expert group
meeting; and requested the expert group meeting to submit the outcome of its
work to the Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice, subsequently held in Salvador, Brazil, from 12 to 19 April 2010,
Recalling also that the four regional preparatory meetings for the Twelfth
United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice welcomed
the development of a set of supplementary rules specific to the treatment of
women in detention and in custodial and non-custodial settings, 13
Recalling further the Salvador Declaration on Comprehensive Strategies
for Global Challenges: Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Systems and
Their Development in a Changing World, 14 in which Member States
recommended that the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
__________________
10
11
12
13
14
10-56194
United Nations publication, Sales No. E.08.IV.4.
World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, and United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, Women’s Health in Prison: Correcting Gender Inequity in Prison Health (Copenhagen,
2009).
Resolution 64/142, annex.
A/CONF.213/RPM.1/1, A/CONF.213/RPM.2/1, A/CONF.213/RPM.3/1 and A/CONF.213/RPM.4/1.
A/CONF.213/18, chap. I, resolution 1.
3