Programma 2121 has been recognized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as an international best practice.​

"The opportunity to learn and work that is offered to prisoners by projects such as Programma 2121, helps to break a chain of poverty and marginalization, contributing significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals enshrined by the United Nations."​

Flavio Mirella, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Programme 2121 started a scale-up initiative for the construction of a new industrial area for the production of aluminium sheet metal, active from August 2024, in the Milan Bollate Prison.


“This initiative represents one of the most important occasions in which we can finally talk about prison economics. What we are presenting today is a real industrial project: the story of a path of growth and evolution, born as a result of the pandemic and which continues today thanks to the collaboration of many parties involved. A very advanced philosophy, therefore, which places the true needs, also in perspective, of the prisoners at the center of the execution of the sentence ”

Giovanni Russo,
Head of the Department of Penitentiary Administration, Italian Ministry of Justice

Minimum 6 months internship
72 interns and 38 companies active in the project
760 hours of safety training and 456 hours of soft skills training
Third evaluation results (FY 2024) SROI - Social Return of Investment in the range 1:10.3-13.9

Programma 2121 has a positive impact on:

Participants
  • Improved self-esteem;
  • Feeling of dignity;
  • Increased aspirations;
  • Improved financial position;
  • Improved family relationships;
  • Increased hope;
  • Increased quality of life;
  • Increased social connections
Family
  • Improved financial position;
  • Improved family relationships
Government
  • Cost savings from reduced offending
Wider sector
  • Increased inclusiveness in hiring process;
  • Improved knowledge about effective offender programs
    "The positive experience we are living and the belief in the values that the Programma 2121 expresses has led us to extend the project to other structures and to involve other men and women to be included in our team"

    Programma 2121 Participating Company

    The voice of a Programme 2121 participant inserted by Deerns: discover the testimony of a man who, after making mistakes and falling, managed to find his way to rebirth.

    “They took me in as a prisoner and accompanied me on the resocialisation part of my journey towards rebirth, they invested believing that it was also their social duty to open the door to a second chance.”

    Programma 2121 Intern

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    november 2024