A complainant approached Mr. Asad Ashraf Malik, the Provincial Ombudsman of Sindh (Pakistan), stating that the Revenue Department was not reimbursing the medical charges he was entitled to under the rules.

The World Bank is mainstreaming citizen engagement through - among other things - supporting the development of Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRMs), which are used by Ombudsman Institutions as a vehicle to enhance citizen voice and government responsiveness in order to advance citizen-centered governance.

The Ombudsman of Spain, Soledad Becerril, has welcomed the fact that the tax reform approved by the lower chamber of Parliament includes recommendations made by the Institution. Accordingly, it moderates the tax hike on the sale of used homes and keeps in place the abatement coefficients that reduce the capital gains tax on the sale of properties, when the value of the sale does not exceed €400,000.

Today the use of immigration detention as a migration management tool is on the rise in a large number of countries. The detention of asylum-seekers and migrants represents a growing human rights challenge worldwide. The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) therefore produced a practical manual on monitoring immigration detention, which is now available online.

On 18 December 2014, the Ombudsman, Ms Connie Lau, declared a direct investigation into the effectiveness of the mechanism of the Water Supplies Department (WSD) for handling leaks (bursts) of private water pipes.

The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia Vlasta Nussdorfer presented the president of Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor with a special jubilee publication on Wednesday marking Human Rights Day and 20 years of the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office.

The Ombudsman, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino, presented the Office of the Ombudsman’s Annual Report for 2013 to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. Ċensu Galea.

The IOI General Secretariat wishes you all a festive holiday season and a happy New Year! Due to the upcoming holidays, the General Secretariat will not be fully occupied from 24 December 2014 to 6 January 2015. The whole team of the IOI General Secretariat will again be available on 7 January 2015.