Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators 2022
Singapore, 19 September 2022 – Held after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) is hosting the Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA) this year.
APCCA provides a platform for government agencies responsible for prison and correctional administration within the Asia-Pacific region to meet, exchange ideas and share practices in corrections. At present, there are 34 members from 27 countries in APCCA. SPS is the Joint Secretariat with Hong Kong Correctional Services Department, and actively shares its experience with APCCA counterparts to facilitate learning and exchange of ideas in corrections.
APCCA 2022 will be held virtually from today, 19 September, to 23 September 2022. More than 700 participants have signed up this year, and they include officials from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Hong Kong (China), Macao (China), Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
APCCA 2022 – “Forging New Frontiers in Corrections”
The theme for APCCA 2022, “Forging New Frontiers in Corrections”, reflects the importance of looking beyond the pandemic and improving correctional practices through the sharing of information among correctional agencies across the world.
This year’s conference includes a Plenary Session and a Fireside Chat where APCCA correctional leaders will share their experience on “Technology, Partnerships and Advocacy” and “Correctional Leadership, Organisational Development and Culture” respectively. These serve as platforms for attendees to exchange views and ideas on the changes to the correctional landscape as well as opportunities to enhance the correctional landscape in the near future. Other discussion topics of interest include the management of prison emergencies, staff development, engaging the community for effective reintegration and best practices in meeting the offenders’ needs.
Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information and Second Minister for Home Affairs, who was the Guest-of-Honour, delivered an address during the Opening Ceremony on 19 September 2022.
In her address, Mrs Teo highlighted three key planks for correctional agencies to operate in a dynamic work environment. These are: (a) agility in adapting to changes, (b) collaborating with the community to provide a strong ecosystem of support for ex-offenders, and (c) leveraging technology and data as a force multiplier. Emphasising the importance of knowledge sharing across correctional jurisdictions, she added that Singapore remains supportive and committed to APCCA’s cause and its success.
Sharing Correctional Best Practices
SPS is a leading correctional agency committed to enforcing the safe and secure custody of offenders, and rehabilitating them. SPS regularly takes part in local and international conferences on corrections, to share its best practices on various topics such as the development of evidence-informed rehabilitation programmes. SPS also firmly believes in learning from its international counterparts.
Commissioner of Prisons, Ms Shie Yong Lee, said, “SPS is honoured to host APCCA this year and serve as APCCA Joint Secretariat with Hong Kong Correctional Services Department (HKCSD). At such international conferences, SPS shares our correctional policies and programme, and also actively learns from and benchmarks our correctional practices with other global jurisdictions. Such conferences also give us the opportunity to share more about the Singapore model of corrections that has shown good results, including how our Captains of Lives work in close partnership with our community volunteers, as well as the strong collaboration between the public and private sectors to support successful reintegration of ex-offenders back into the community.
APCCA is organised by a different member each year. Vietnam is the host for APCCA 2023.
Singapore Prison Service
19 September 2022