On 25 March 2025 the African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC), in collaboration with the IOI, held a webinar to discuss the critical role of children's Ombudsman offices in promoting and safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable. In case you missed the live session, or wish to revisit its insights, you can access the recording of this webinar on YouTube.

El jurado del Concurso de Dibujo sobre Derechos Humanos del Defensor del Pueblo acaba de hacer público los ganadores de la XX edición. Más de 2.700 niños y niñas de toda España, y de colegios españoles en el extranjero, han participado en esta ocasión presentando otros tantos dibujos, de los que 1.831 corresponden a escolares de Educación Primaria, 839 a alumnos y alumnas de Educación Secundaria y 50 a alumnado de Educación Especial.

The Ombudsman Association 2025 conference will take place in Belfast from 9-11 June 2025, at the Hilton Belfast. An exciting programme covers key issues facing the ombudsman sector. Registration is open until 13 May 2025. 

The Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary has successfully implemented the IOI-supported regional subsidy project “Connecting Ombudsman Procedures and Citizens”. The two-phase initiative aimed at strengthening public awareness of the Ombudsman’s work, particularly in the field of disability rights, and at familiarizing the public with the network of newly established regional offices.

Kindly click here to read the IOI European Region’s Quarterly Newsletter for the period from January 2025 to March 2025.

Kindly click here to read the latest Quarterly Newsletter by the Ombudsman Wales. This newsletter covers the period from November 2024 to March 2025.

In 2024, the Basque Ombudsman, Manuel Lezertua, together with the President of the IOI European Region, visited Strasbourg. The purpose of their visit was to revive the practice of organizing conferences for ombuds institutions, a tradition that had previously been upheld by the Commissioner for Human Rights. The Basque Ombudsman proposal played a crucial role in bringing into being the High-Level Conference in Strasbourg in March 2025 for National Human Rights and Ombuds Institutions. Kindly click here to read more about this year’s conference.

Kindly click here to read more about the newly published book “The European Ombudsman Investigated: From Old Battles to New Challenges”. It is a seminal study of the European Ombudsman by leading expert commentators, focusing on current challenges and future developments.

Le vendredi 21 mars, Marc BERTRAND, Médiateur de la Wallonie et de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, a présidé sa dernière assemblée générale du Réseau belge des ombudsmans, Ombudsman.be.

En effet, arrivé au terme de son second mandat et donc après 12 années à la tête de l'institution du Médiateur, Marc BERTRAND cèdera son poste dans les semaines à venir.

Les 140 996 réclamations et demandes d’informations et orientations reçues par l’institution et les travaux réalisés au cours de l’année 2024 traduisent, une nouvelle fois, une augmentation des atteintes aux droits en France. Alors que les discriminations augmentent, l’ampleur du taux de non-recours témoigne d’un renoncement face à la promesse républicaine d’égalité. C’est pourquoi la Défenseure des droits appelle à un sursaut collectif pour prévenir et lutter contre les discriminations.