Al Qasimi Foundation & UNESCO Back Prison Education in the Arab Region

Building on more than a decade of work to expand education inside correctional facilities, the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research held a two-day policy dialogue titled “Education in Prison: Bridging Policy and Practice” on 4–5 November 2026.

The event brought together 25 regional and international stakeholders, including government officials, representatives of correctional and rehabilitation institutions, judicial authorities, and specialists in education and rehabilitation.

Organised with the cooperation and technical advice of UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, the dialogue examined the role of education in rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society. Participants also reviewed opportunities to strengthen quality learning pathways within correctional settings across the Arab region and beyond.

Prison education in Ras Al Khaimah links the right to learn with broader human-rights principles while opening routes for personal development, rehabilitation and eventual return to the community. The discussions built on the Foundation’s long-running partnership with the Ras Al Khaimah Correctional Facility.

That partnership began with the creation of a prison library that now holds 9,000 titles and was recognised by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning as a best practice in 2026. The initiative illustrates the Foundation’s effort to turn research and institutional partnerships into concrete educational opportunities and lasting community impact.

Dr Natasha Ridge, Executive Director of the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, underlined the organisation’s core focus in her opening remarks. “At the Al Qasimi Foundation, education is at the heart of everything we do. We believe in its power to transform lives, create opportunities, and build stronger, more inclusive communities. Since 2011, our partnership with the Ras Al Khaimah Correctional Facility has grown from establishing a prison library into a comprehensive educational initiative, delivering more than 150 courses to over 5,000 inmates.

This reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring that learning opportunities extend beyond traditional classrooms and that everyone has the opportunity to develop their potential. By bringing together regional and international expertise through this dialogue, we reaffirm our commitment to bridging research, policy, and practice, and advancing meaningful, lasting impact in Ras Al Khaimah and beyond.”

The programme reviewed approaches to quality prison education across the Middle East and North Africa region and further afield. Particular attention was given to gender considerations, alternative learning pathways, and the policy and institutional frameworks required to expand educational opportunities inside correctional settings.

The event opened with remarks from the Al Qasimi Foundation and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. A keynote address titled “Education Not Incarceration: A Global Practice” was delivered by Dr Baz Dreisinger of John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.

Since 2011 the Foundation’s collaboration with the Ras Al Khaimah Correctional Facility has expanded from a single library into a broader educational programme that has offered more than 150 courses to over 5,000 inmates. The library itself now contains more than 9,000 titles and received formal recognition from the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in 2026 for best practice.

These results demonstrate a sustained commitment to widening access to education and creating genuine opportunities for personal development and rehabilitation.

Building on that experience, the dialogue included a workshop called “Building Prison Libraries into Learning Pathways.” It was led by Miguel Rivera Donoso, Coordinator of the Prison Libraries Plan at the National System of Public Libraries, Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Chile. Drawing on international examples, the workshop explored how prison libraries can develop into inclusive learning spaces that support education, personal growth and reintegration.

A roundtable facilitated by Dr Matthias Eck of UNESCO examined institutional, policy and resource barriers that hinder the expansion of prison education across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Participants identified practical opportunities for greater collaboration and concrete improvements.

On the second day the focus shifted to translating policy into practice. Government representatives discussed the role of public institutions in strengthening prison education and rehabilitation programmes in Ras Al Khaimah and the wider United Arab Emirates.

Reflecting on the discussions, Miguel Rivera Donoso observed: “A prison library is much more than a place where people can find books to pass the time. In a context of confinement, an active library can become a key that opens doors within, connecting people, or reconnecting them, with hidden parts of themselves. In this way, people can discover or rediscover aspects of themselves that go beyond the identity of ‘offender’ imposed on them by the system, an identity they themselves may have come to accept as the single story of their lives.

It is precisely this ability to rediscover and reshape one’s identity that can broaden one’s perspective, reshape one’s values and mark a first step towards desistance from crime. Reading, writing and sharing experiences through literature can help make this process possible. I’ve witnessed the power of these processes firsthand over the years.”

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The dialogue underlined the value of sustained institutional collaboration, international knowledge exchange and evidence-informed approaches to advancing prison education. Building on more than ten years of partnership with the Ras Al Khaimah Correctional Facility, the Al Qasimi Foundation continues to promote education as a pathway to opportunity, rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society.

Organised by the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research with the cooperation and technical advice of UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, the event reinforced the Foundation’s commitment to linking research, policy and practice. It also identified concrete opportunities to strengthen prison education and generate meaningful, lasting impact in Ras Al Khaimah, the wider Arab region and beyond.