Rob Behrens began his new role as Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and Chair of the organisation on Thursday 06 April 2017.

On the 22^nd of March the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights hosted Equinet’s kick off project meeting on combating violence against women which was followed by the Working Group meeting on Gender Equality on 23^rd of March.

El Ombudsman nacional, Luis Raúl González Pérez, presentó el Informe de Actividades de la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH) ante el Presidente Enrique Peña Nieto en el Salón “Adolfo López Mateos” de Los Pinos y afirmó que 2016 no fue buen año para los derechos humanos.

Cayman Islands recently introduced a new law, combining the various oversight entities under one entity: the newly established Ombudsman Office. A call for applications for the position of the Cayman Islands Ombudsman is now open.

"It is not just about populism as a political method, but about the use of populism to destroy constitutional courts. In such circumstances, the ombudsman must be a guardian of values ​​such as human rights. It must be reliable in terms of legal solutions but also creative in terms of communication methods", said Adam Bodnar, the Commissioner for Human Rights at the workshop for ombudspersons organized on April 3-4 in Barcelona.

Residents of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Karachi were suffering from the acute shortage of safe drinking water for the last one year during which they had no other option but to buy a water tanker to meet their basic need. A complaint to Principla Ombudsman Sindh, Mr. Asad Ashraf Malik, for supply of potable water was filed.

 

IOI Europe’s Regional President Rafael Ribó hosted a workshop on human rights challenges, held in Barcelona from 3 – 4 April 2017, to resume the debate on the regression of rights launched a year ago. In light of recent political developments emphasis was particularly put on “Populism? Regression of Rights and the Role of the Ombudsman”. Representatives from IOI member institutions from all over Europe participated at this workshop to discuss and analyse the current situation and the role of the Ombudsman in this regard.  

On 3^rd April, the Ombudsman of Hong Kong, Ms. Connie Lau, announced at the launch ceremony of “Ombudsman Special II” that the drama series, jointly produced by the Office of The Ombudsman and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), will be broadcast every Tuesday as of 4^th April.