Effective storytelling for rehabilitative justice | Capacity strengthening for Ukrainian probation service
As part of its post-war recovery plan, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice made a commitment to strengthening rule of law and justice across all aspects of public policy and public life, including the penitentiary system. However, the Russian invasion has made the transition from punitive to rehabilitative approach more difficult due to prison overcrowding and new types of offenders. Ukraine has made its choice in favour of the European trajectory of development; hence, Ukrainian justice has to be adept to deal with mental health and rehabilitative approaches to support Ukrainian citizens effectively. To facilitate the transition to a more humane, effective and responsive justice system, NHC developed the “Advancing Justice and Accountability in Ukraine: Strengthening and Support of the Prison System” project.
As part of the project, NHC organised an educational workshop in audio-visual communication for the Ukrainian State Probation Service. The aim of the workshop was to provide the Ukrainian delegation with knowledge in effective public relations. With this goal in mind, Ukrainian officers learnt more about creating and conceptualizing a narrative, as well as about the full cycle of video production from the Latvian State Probation Service public relations manager Imants Mozers and video expert Valdis Krūmiņš. Beyond public relations skills, the Latvian Probation Service experts assisted their Ukrainian colleagues in creating a comprehensive concept to celebrate the decade of the Ukrainian Probation Service through anniversary events and public awareness activities.
In the video below, you can watch an interview with Imants Jurevičius, Head of Latvian State Probation Service, in conversation with Volodymyr Severyn, Director of the Communication sector of Ukrainian probation on the history of Latvian probation and the move to a more holistic and rehabilitative justice system.
