Governor Flávio Dino and president of H360 work out details for the implementation of an inmate cooperative in Maranhão
A luncheon hosted by Governor Flávio Dino on Sept. 25 at Palácio dos Leões, the seat of government for the state of Maranhão (Brazil), sealed the partnership signed between Instituto Humanitas360, the National Justice Council and the Court of Justice of Maranhão for the implementation of cooperatives for inmates in the state. In a meeting that followed the luncheon, the secretary of penitentiary administration of Maranhão, Murilo Andrade, and the president of H360, Patrícia Villela Marino, laid out an ambitious timetable, which foresees the start of cooperative activities in November of this year.
The technical cooperation agreement was signed by the governor of Maranhão, Flávio Dino, the secretary general of the National Justice Council, Carlos Vieira von Adamek, the president of the Court of Justice of Maranhão, Justice José Joaquim Figueiredo dos Anjos, and by the president of H360, Patrícia Villela Marino. The document provides for the installation of cooperatives in the women’s and men’s penitentiaries of the Complexo de Pedrinhas, in São Luís. Funding for the project will be provided by Instituto Humanitas360, including infrastructure, machinery, inputs, training and working capital for the company for at least two years.
In the ceremony for the signing of the agreement, Governor Flávio Dino stated that the cooperatives program brings important innovations to the process of re-socializing inmates in Maranhão. “There is no dichotomy between the defense of human rights and the promotion of public safety, as some conservative political leaders insist. Humanizing the process of re-socialization contributes decisively to reducing indices of criminal recidivism. This is why I say that we, as supporters of this project, are the true defenders of public safety,” said Gov. Dino.