The Council of Europe’s anti-racism commission (ECRI) in its 2020 annual report published today, ahead of the International Day against Racial Discrimination marked on 21 March, identified four key challenges Europe was facing last year. These are: mitigating the disproportional impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups, tackling deep-rooted racism in public life, combating anti-Muslim racism and antisemitism in the face of terrorism, and addressing the backlash against the protection of human rights of LGBTI people.

Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé today announced that his office has launched an investigation into complaints related to the government’s abrupt closures of two youth justice centres in Kenora and Thunder Bay.

We would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the traditional custodians of the Canberra region and pay our respects to Elders past and present. Today, the Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman, Michael Manthorpe PSM, released a report of his investigation into ACT Policing's framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement. The Ombudsman looked at whether the programs, policies, procedures and training ACT Policing has in place to manage its engagement with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community are appropriate and well administered.

The National Ombudsman has published a report on the use of data and algorithms by the government.

In exercise of the powers conferred to him under section 3(1), the President of Azad Jammu & Kashmir had appointed Mr Choudhary Muhammad Naseem as Ombudsman of Azad Jammu & Kashmir on 1 March 2021.

The Institute of Latin-American Ombudsman (ILO) invites you to participate in an international webinar on the experiences of comprehensive reparation for crimes against humanity committed on the basis of race or racist ideology on 24 March 2021. Learn from the experiences of South Africa and Colombia and register now.

La Défenseure des droits, Claire Hédon, rend public son premier rapport annuel consacré à l’activité de l’institution en 2020.

Involuntary hospitalized persons with mental and behavioral disorders from now on will be able to take advantage of an independent assessment of their state of mental health. Such a possibility is provided for in the Minister of Health’s procedure, which was approved taking into account the recommendations of the Seimas Ombudsman Augustinas Normantas.