MANILA — The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have collaborated to support the creation of new jail libraries and the provision of books and equipment that will be launched this month, the BJMP announced on Tuesday.

Under the partnership, called "Read Your Way Out: Advancing Prison Reform through Libraries for Lifelong Learning in Places of Detention," the BJMP and UNODC will provide learning opportunities for the personal development and well-being of persons deprived of liberty (PDL).

It also aims to incorporate reading activities as one of the options for PDLs to earn Time Allowance for Study, Teaching, and Mentoring (TASTM).

The time allowances will help reduce their sentences and facilitate decongestion through early release.

The project was inspired by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, which ensures the right to freedom of opinion and expression that includes "to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

The project will be assisted by a Technical Working Group (TWG) coming from the officials of BJMP and UNODC.

The National Library of the Philippines will also help the TWG provide technical knowledge on library management.

In the launch, 13 jail recipients have been identified to participate in the project.

Recipients will have books and essential equipment to build their libraries.

The jail libraries shall comprise 20 percent legal resources, 30 percent vocational resources, 40 percent fiction and non-fiction, and 10 percent children's books for family visitors. — Ian Jay Capati, ABS-CBN News Intern

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