IOI | Europe Conference and General Assembly held in Brussels

The European Region of the IOI held its quadrennial conference in Brussels from 1 – 3 October 2018. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary of the Office of Federal Ombudsman, Catherine De Bruecker and Guido Herman hosted the event and invited Ombudsman colleagues to the Belgian Senate to discuss “The Ombudsman in an open and participatory society”.

Conference participants included Ombudsman from all over Europe, but also colleagues from Australia, Canada, Malawi, Sint Maarten, Thailand and Zambia. The group was joined by representatives from partner organizations such as the Institute of Latin-American Ombudsman (ILO), the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman (FCO), the European Network of NHRIs (ENNRHI) as well as representatives from the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the European branch of the OHCHR.

The conference started with the General Assembly meeting of the European members of the IOI on 1 October. Rafael Ribó, Catalan Ombudsman and President of the IOI European Region, gave account of the work done within the region, such as the region’s efforts in the field of migration and refugee integration – a project which has been successfully launched and driven forward by the Dutch Ombudsman, the Greek Ombudsman and the Ombudsman of the Basque Country (Spain) – and the region’s fruitful cooperation with the CoE’s Venice Commission to develop a set of Principles on the Protection and Promotion of Ombudsman Institutions.

In three sessions, the Conference itself covered topics such as: the Ombudsman and access to information, the Ombudsman as a catalyst for citizen participation, and the Ombudsman as a guarantor of international commitments. The papers and presentations of these sessions will be made available in the Member Area of the IOI website in due course.

Moreover, IOI President Peter Tyndall and AOM President Erinda Ballanca signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and the Association of Mediterranean Ombudsman (AOM) on 2 October 2018. By signing this Memorandum, both institutions confirmed their willingness to cooperate and recognized their similar objectives of strengthening the concept of Ombudsmanship.

Finally, the Conference also provided an opportunity of commemorating the anniversaries of both the Office of the Belgium Federal Ombudsman, which was established 20 years ago, and the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), which celebrates 40 years of existence. In his closing remarks to commemorate the IOI’s 40th anniversary, IOI Secretary General Kräuter highlighted the IOI’s core values and mission and stressed the importance of Ombudsman colleagues coming together in this international network to exchange knowledge and join forces in the promotion and protection of citizen’s’ rights.