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Secretary General Werner Amon with the FIO President Pablo Ulloa
As Secretary General of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), the Austrian Ombudsman Werner Amon met the President of the Ibero-American Federation (FIO), Pablo Ulloa, who has also been the Ombudsman of the Dominican Republic since 2021. The meeting took place in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in February 2022.
The topics of the discussion were a potential membership of the Dominican Republic in the IOI and closer cooperation between the FIO and the IOI. In addition, the FIO wished to exchange views on the process of obtaining international status, which the IOI has successfully completed. The IOI's aspiration to observer status at the UN General Assembly was also discussed. It was already decided in 2015 that the IOI would cooperate more intensively with regional associations.
In 2016, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Barcelona by the then IOI President John Walters and the FIO President José de Faria Costa. Mr. Amon and Mr. Ulloa now exchanged views on the IOI and the FIO and specified how the existing cooperation between the two organisations could be deepened. Through the lively dialogue and the assurance of mutual support, the Memorandum of Understanding of 2016 has now been given emphasis and new life.
At the meeting, Mr Ulloa in his function as Ombudsman of the Dominican Republic reiterated the institution's desire to become a member of the IOI. The admission process has already been initiated in order to be able to vote on membership at the next IOI board meeting in May 2022 in New York. In addition, Pablo Ulloa assured both his will and his willin gness to recruit other potential members in the region from the ranks of FIO members (over 100) and to support them in the admission process.
This is an essential step to strengthen the presence of the IOI in the Central and South American region and to de epen cooperation opportunities. Pablo Ulloa, on behalf of the FIO, expressed the wish to exchange views with Mr Amon on obtaining international status. Since in the case of the IOI this was obtained within the framework of the Austrian Official Seats Act, only limited details could be discussed here.
In parallel, an exchange with the General Secretariat of the FIO took place. The talks were held by Meinhard Friedl and Carmen Comas -Matas. The IOI is seeking observer status at the United Nations General Assem bly. This procedure has to be initiated by a UN member state by requesting the inclusion of the issue on the agenda of the UN General Assembly. Pablo Ulloa agreed to support this process here.
At the national level, he will approach the responsible contact persons at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which plays a leading role in the initiation process, in order to make clear the importance of the observer status of the IOI for the UN General Assembly and to ensure broad support. It is also in the interest of the FIO that the IOI obtains this status, which is why Pablo Ulloa also asks the members of the FIO for support in this regard.
