The prison project was initiated by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund and constructed by UNOPS in partnership with the Ministry of Justice.

The new prison replaces an ageing and cramped converted warehouse that previously served as the only remand centre for prisoners awaiting trial in the city. It is part of a project to provide support to the Ministry by building capacity and strengthening correctional and judicial facilities.

At the ceremony President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf applauded the UN for a “job well done”, and hoped that the prison would “be a model that could be replicated around the country”. The UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Rule of Law, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, handed over the facility to the Liberian leader, assuring her of the United Nations’ continued support for Liberia’s recovery and development.

The President toured the facility during the handover ceremony in the company of Ms Mensa-Bonsu, UNOPS Country Director Lakis Papastravou, Head of Nimba County UN Field Office Wesley Natana, advisors to the Corrections Advisory Unit of UNMIL, and Ministry of Justice officials.

At the former prison breakouts were common, as prisoners were easily able to cut through the barbed wire encircling the compound. Over 100 prisoners, including female and juvenile offenders, were held in a space originally designed for only 25 inmates.

Prisoners and prison officials shared one small, dark building that had no running water or kitchen. Only two toilets were functioning and before a well was built nearby, UNMIL’s Bangladeshi Battalion of peacekeepers had to bring the prisoners water every day.

The completed facility is on a twelve and a half acre plot of land outside the city centre. It is more secure and contains 12 spacious cells designed to hold 72 prisoners, with separate facilities for male and female inmates.

It has running water extracted with a solar pump as well as solar lighting for perimeter security, a separate kitchen and functioning toilets. The new facility also has space outside for a small farm, one of the rehabilitation activities planned for inmates.

Another component of UN Peacebuilding Fund support to the Liberian Ministry of Justice is the training of 50 new prison officers, 20 of whom will strengthen the nine-person unit assigned to the Sanniquellie prison.

The UNOPS Liberia Office was established in 2004 following decades of civil conflict that destroyed much of the country’s core infrastructure.