BackOn 7 August 2015 the Senate approved the appointment of Dr. Adam Bodnar as seventh Polish Human Rights Defender. Mr Bodnar, who will take office after having taken the oath before the Sejm (Parliament), will succeed Prof. Irena Lipowicz. On behalf of the international Ombudsman community, the IOI would like to thank Prof. Lipowicz for the valuable and significant contributions she made as a member of the IOI Board of Directors.
Prof. Lipowicz, who was a Member of Parliament from 1991 to 2000, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Austria from 2000 to 2004 and Ambassador-Representative of the Foreign Minister for Polish-German Relations until 2006, held the office of Polish Human Rights Defender for the past five years.
Prof. Lipowicz joined the IOI Board of Directors in 2010 and was elected Regional President of the IOI’s European Region in January 2015. She was a very active and valuable member of the IOI Board.
She was passionately dedicated to the Ombudsman concept and devoted herself to her work as Human Rights Defender of Poland far beyond her duties. The IOI got to know Prof. Lipowicz as a strong advocate for the promotion and protection of human rights. She significantly contributed to the exchange of experiences between Ombudsman institutions worldwide and encouraged solidarity within the Ombudsman community. She very often got directly involved when colleagues were in need of support and made strong efforts to draw international attention to problematic areas and assist colleagues during times of crisis.
The International Ombudsman Institute would like to thank Prof. Lipowicz for the excellent work provided as a member of the IOI Board of Directors. On behalf of the international Ombudsman community, the IOI assures Ms Lipowicz of its highest consideration. She will be greatly missed and we wish her all the best for the future!
