Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on
Accelerating Prisons and Penal Reforms in Africa
The Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Accelerating Prisons and Penal Reforms in Africa
Recognising that there has been progress in raising general prison standards in Africa as recommended by the
Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions 1996
Recognising also the specific standards on alternatives to imprisonment contained in the Kadoma Declaration on
Community Service Orders in Africa 1997; and on good prison administration set out in the Arusha Declaration on Good
Prison Practice 1999
Noting the recognition given to these African standards by the United Nations as complementary to the United Nations
Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the Declaration on the Basic Rights of Prisoners and the
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for non-custodial measures (the 'Tokyo Rules')
Mindful of the key role played by Africans in formulating an agenda for penal reform through the 1999 Egham
Conference on 'A New Approach for Penal Reform in a New Century'
Noting with satisfaction the important practical steps that have been taken to implement these standards at an African
level through the activities of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and its Special Rapporteur on
Prisons and Conditions of Detention
Commending the practical measures that have been taken by prison authorities in African countries to apply these
standards in their national jurisdictions
Recognising that notwithstanding these measures there are still considerable shortcomings in the treatment of
prisoners, which are aggravated by shortages of facilities and resources
Welcoming the growing partnerships between Governments, non governmental organizations and civil society in the
process of implementing these standards
Emphasising the importance of a criminal justice policy that controls the growth of the prison population and encourages
the use of alternatives to imprisonment
The participants at the second pan-African Conference on Prison and Penal Reform in Africa, held in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso between 18-20 September 2002, recommend:
1. Reducing the prison population
Criminal justice agencies should work together more closely to make less use of imprisonment. The prison population
can only be reduced by a concerted strategy. It should be based on accurate and widely publicized information on the
numbers and kinds of people in prison and on the social and financial impact of imprisonment. Reduction strategies
should be ongoing and target both sentenced and unsentenced prisoners
2. Making African prisons more self-sufficient