ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES It was noted that in some countries, prison officers are transferred regularly from one prison to another, which constitutes a hardship for them and their families. At the same time, it has to be acknowledged that transfers of prison officers have proven to be an effective measure to prevent corruption. Guidance about the planning, design and provision of facilities for prison staff can be found in the UNOPS Technical Guidance.110 Adequate prisoner-staff ratio The Essex group highlighted the importance of an adequate prisoner-staff ratio for good prison management, which has been widely recognised. The Inter-American Principles and Best Practices provide that ‘[s]efficient and qualified personnel shall be available to ensure security, surveillance, and custody’.111 They require that staff ‘shall be provided with the necessary resources and equipment so as to allow them to perform their duties in suitable conditions, including fair and equitable remuneration, decent living conditions, and appropriate basic services’. The Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa also states that ‘the State should provide sufficient material and financial resources for staff to carry out their work properly’.112 As has been noted by human rights bodies, ‘where staff complements are inadequate (it) can easily result in high levels of stress in staff and their premature burnout, a situation which is likely to exacerbate the tension inherent in any prison environment’.113 The experts noted that adequate numbers of staff need to be present at all times to ensure safety and security, including overnight. Dynamic security and conflict prevention Lessons learned over the last 60 years include the acknowledgment that techniques of conflict resolution and mediation not only ensure human rights compliance, but also are more effective and efficient in providing for the safety and security of prisoners and prison staff. In particular, it is now ‘generally acknowledged that safety and security in prisons depend on creating a positive climate which encourages the cooperation of prisoners’ and that ‘engaging with prisoners and getting to know them can enable staff to anticipate and better prepare themselves to respond effectively to any incident that may threaten the security of the prison and the safety of staff and inmates’. This notion is usually referred to as ‘dynamic security’, describing an ‘emphasis on the need for prison staff to establishing good relationships with prisoners’.114 It implies proactive and frequent interaction of prison staff with prisoners, which allows them to observe the prisoners and gather information. Such regular interaction provides warning signs of incidents and allows Technical Guidance for Prison Planning, based on the Nelson Mandela Rules, pp. 202-208. 110  Principle XX of the Inter-American Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas. 111  See African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa, September 1996, ‘Prison Staff’, para. 3. 112  CPT 11th General Report, [CPT/Inf (2001) 16], para. 26. 113  Handbook for Prison Leaders, p. 106. 114  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 35