Strengthening Cooperation between Ukraine, the Netherlands and Latvia in the Field of Probation

At the end of January, representatives of the probation services of Latvia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine met in Riga to discuss mutual cooperation for the enhancement of probation functions and administrative management in Ukraine.

In particular, over the past five years, the probation services of Latvia and the Netherlands have provided support to their Ukrainian counterparts in the development of the probation system, strengthening knowledge in probation functions, public relations, and other areas. In order to effectively coordinate further support from Latvian and Dutch colleagues, representatives of all three countries’ probation services gathered in Riga.

During the meeting in Riga, a quadrilateral memorandum on cooperation in the field of probation was also signed to support the efforts of the Ukrainian Probation Center in strengthening and further developing the probation system in Ukraine. The memorandum was signed by the Latvian State Probation Service, the Ukrainian Probation Center, the Dutch Probation Service (Reclassering), along with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee. It envisages coordinated cooperation in rehabilitation and resocialization programs, voluntary work, electronic monitoring, community work, professional development, quality, public relations and communication, research, technology, juvenile crime prevention, restorative justice, and mediation.

Signing of the memorandum by representatives of the Ukrainian Probation Center, the Latvian State Probation Service, the Dutch Probation Service and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (left to right).

During the visit, significant attention was given to future cooperation activities in effective caseload management, improving work quality, and in the areas of community work and public relations.

The strengthened cooperation model established in Riga is a significant foundation for providing effective support to the Ukrainian Probation Center in its efforts to align with European standards in implementing sentences in society while simultaneously building a safer society.

This is part of the NHC’s collaborative project on Justice and Accountability in Ukraine where our goal is to facilitate the development of humane, effective, and responsive justice systems.