Speakers
Parallel Workshops
In complex and fragile settings, effective corrections systems are indispensable to advancing the rule of law, public safety and sustainable peace. This session explores how multi-level partnerships between the United Nations, its Member States, national counterparts and professional corrections organizations function not merely as supportive mechanisms, but as core operational requirements and force multipliers for corrections delivery in complex settings. Particular emphasis is also placed on the strategic value of seconding national corrections experts to United Nations peace operations, strengthening operational capacity while enabling the transfer of context-relevant knowledge and professional expertise across jurisdictions.
Drawing on experiences from peace operations, the session will examine how integrated, corrections-focused collaboration across justice, security and development actors enhances institutional resilience, supports rehabilitation and reintegration and contributes to addressing systemic challenges such as overcrowding and pre-trial detention. It will further highlight how sustained engagement with national institutions contributes to accountable governance and long-term stability.
Participants are invited to engage in a forward-looking discussion on practical approaches to designing and sustaining partnerships that deliver effective, rights-compliant and sustainable corrections outcomes in the most challenging operational environments.
Viktor Jovev is a rule of law and criminal justice expert with the United Nations Justice and Corrections Service. He has over 20 years of experience supporting criminal justice, accountability and corrections interventions in conflict, post-conflict and complex security settings.
He has served for over a decade with the United Nations Department of Peace Operations (DPO) in New York as a Corrections and Judicial Affairs Officer, providing strategic and technical advice to peace operations on criminal justice, detention and accountability. His work includes legal and policy guidance on rule of law, accountability and detention reform, support for mandate implementation and sustained engagement with UN Member States, including a strong focus on the deployment of national corrections experts to UN peace operations.
Earlier, Mr. Jovev served as a judicial expert with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, as Deputy Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras, and as Head of Office for the International Commission on Missing Persons in Colombia, among other assignments. He holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights Protection and a degree in international criminal law, with professional experience across Africa, Latin America, the Western Balkans, and at UN Headquarters.