IOI | Board of Directors holds first electronic meeting due to Covid-19

On 18 May 2020 the IOI Board of Directors held its annual meeting to identify and discuss projects and priorities for the upcoming membership year. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the Board held its annual meeting by electronic means for the first time.

The videoconference was facilitated by the Office of IOI President and Ireland Ombudsman Peter Tyndall and despite the challenge of a wide range of different time zones, 15 out of currently 20 Directors joined the videoconference for a very productive and successful meeting.

President Tyndall opened the meeting by welcoming new Board members from the Caribbean & Latin American Region, where two of the three positions on the Board became vacant and therefore were filled by Dr. Raúl Lamberto (Defensor del Pueblo de la Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina) and Mr Keursly Concincion (Ombudsman of Curaçao), who both stepped up to fill the region’s vacant positions on the Board.

The IOI Board approved Voting membership for seven Ombudsman institutions from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and agreed that another round of the IOI’s successful regional subsidies programme will be made available to members. A process asking members to submit their respective project proposals will be started by the Secretariat soon.

Other topics discussed in this year’s meeting of the IOI Board of Directors included progress reports on training initiatives as well as IOI publications such as the Comparative Study on Ombudsman in the African Region or the next issues of IOI Best Practice Papers.

The Board showed its disappointment for not being able to meet in person in Dublin as previously planned but also showed its appreciation for all the efforts, which President Tyndall and his team in Ireland have put into the preparation of the 12^th IOI World Conference and General Assembly. IOI Secretary General Werner Amon complimented President Tyndall and his competent team for handling the unforeseeable circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, which unfortunately led to the postponement of our Dublin event, in such a calm and professional manner.