After meeting with members of Windsor’s Ukrainian community, the parliamentary secretary to International Development Minister Christian Paradis has announced new funding to help children in the eastern European country.

Lois Brown says her government will invest $3.6-million in a program that trains judges dealing with juvenile offenders in Ukraine. She says the country has struggled to create an independent and objective judiciary and sometimes, young offenders are sentenced too harshly for minor crimes.

Much of the discussion in Windsor focused on the plight of orphans whom Brown says are easy pickings for human traffickers. “Some of these orphans have nowhere to go afterwards, and they are lured by people with ulterior motives,” she says.

Ukraine is one of Canada’s 20 countries of interest around the globe and the funding for judicial programs was first established in 2005. Brown is meeting with Ukrainian Canadians across the country, looking for feedback on ways Canada can help.