An analytical review of community service practice in Ukraine
We have prepared and published an analytical review of community service practice in Ukraine. The study is based on official responses from the territorial units of the Probation Center and on an analysis of actual practice in different regions of the country.
Community service is a form of administrative or criminal penalty that involves unpaid socially useful work performed in the time free from one’s main job or studies. Its purpose is not only punishment, but also the resocialization of the person and their involvement in the life of the community.
Key findings of the study:
- The most common types of work — landscaping, cleaning, repairs, and help for municipal institutions, educational institutions, and social protection facilities.
- The war has changed the nature of part of this community service: in some communities people are involved in helping with humanitarian efforts, maintaining infrastructure, and clearing the aftermath of shelling.
- There are regional differences in how the process is organized — both in the list of types of work and in the approaches to oversight and record-keeping.
- Among the challenges — security restrictions, the workload on probation services, the difficulty of monitoring, and the unevenness of practice between communities.
At the same time, the study shows that with proper coordination, community service can be not only a formal sanction but also a tool of social integration and real support for communities, especially during the war.
We hope that the results of the review will become a basis for further discussion about improving the community service mechanism, the transparency of its implementation, and the strengthening of its social function.
The study was carried out as part of a project implemented by Insight NGO with the technical support of UN Women in Ukraine and funded by the UN Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF). WPHF is a flexible and rapid funding instrument that supports quality interventions to strengthen the capacity of local women to prevent conflict, respond to crises and emergencies, and seize key peacebuilding opportunities.
This material was prepared with the financial support of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), but this does not mean that the views expressed and the content of the material are officially endorsed or recognized by the United Nations.