Romania | IOI President and General Secretary attend anniversary of the Ombudsman institution and international human rights conference

IOI President Peter Tyndall, General Secretary Günther Kräuter and the Vice-President of the European region of the IOI, Ms. Catherine De Bruecker attended a series of important events in Bucharest from September 21-22. They celebrated the 20th anniversary of the People's Advocate Institution of Romania and attended the International Human Rights Conference hosted by the EOI on the topics of "Ombudsman's political independence in the future" and "Ombudsman's role in eliminating discrimination".

During his speech at the 20th anniversary celebration, the IOI President emphasized the importance of independence in Ombudsman institutions, which requires them to have sufficient resources, be able to select and appoint their own staff and, most importantly, to hold authority in the public sphere it is embedded in. He expressed his satisfaction with the People's Advocate of Romania fulfilling these criteria. Peter Tyndall thereby particularly commented on the efforts that were made and the success Romania has had in creating such an office in a relatively recently formed and constantly evolving democracy. Finally, he underlined that the importance of the Ombudsman office should not be underestimated.