BackThe Defensora del Pueblo, Soledad Becerril, said that it must be ensured that austerity measures do not affect the fundamental rights of citizens and she detailed the main activities of the Ombudsman Office in this matter in her speech at the 27th Annual Meeting of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions of the United Nations.
Soledad Becerril stressed that, when a nation suffers a long period of recession such as the one Spain has suffered until a few months ago, all public services suffer. Therefore, the work of the Ombudsman Office has focused on protecting most vulnerable families and people with suggestions and recommendations that have been addressed by a 75 % which shows that the Ombudsman's opinion is heard and addressed.
For Soledad Becerril, the major problems resulting from budget cuts have been directly related to healthcare and pharmaceutical care, mostly delays in hospital care, in aid to dependent persons, delays in unemployment benefits and pharmaceutical copayment.
The Ombudsman of Spain requested the Government that the extraordinary credits –approved in the State’s budget in order to make public administrations, city halls included, pay the creditors– were, in first place, directed to attend fundamental services of social character. It recalled this has been accepted by the government.
Besides, free access to justice for people with low income levels, groups with special difficulties and non-profit organizations, has been achieved.
In order to end mortgage’s payment problems, the Ombudsman of Spain insisted in the modification of the legislation for avoiding evictions and for reaching agreements among individuals and financial entities. It has emphasized that even if the situation has improved, we shall be very attentive to the fulfilment of the new legislation.
The Defensora del Pueblo has also recalled the actions carried out by the Ombudsman Office in topics such as the nutrition of school-age children or the cutbacks in important services such as aids for acquiring textbooks or university scholarships.
Source: Defensor del Pueblo, Spain
