Tunisia’s Directorate General of Prison and Rehabilitation (DGPR) confirmed that, in an effort to contain the coronavirus, the seven prison facilities that have a tailor vocational program are producing medical masks using sewing machines donated by the U.S. Government. More than 750 protective masks are assembled daily based on the required health standards and issued to the Ministry of Health, the DGPR staff, and inmates. The tailor programs have produced 21,200 protective masks so far and daily production capacity is expected to increase from 750 masks per day to more than 1,500 masks. Soon the tailor programs will begin producing medical uniforms and protective headgear. The US government donated 60 sewing machines in 2018 to support vocational programs and the DGPR’s initiative to transition inmates from wearing street clothes to prison-produced uniforms, which help to reduce recidivism rates and increase the use of international best practices in prison management.
