BackThe Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) of Korea conducted a survey on the foreign language services provided by Ombudsman offices around the world from November 5 to November 22 2013, with the support of the IOI Secretariat. The survey had five questions: 1. whether the responding agencies provide counseling service in foreign languages, 2. whether they receive complaints submitted in foreign language, 3. whether they provide a reply to the complainant in foreign language, 4. any other initiatives or projects they are promoting for foreigners, and 5. future plans to expand foreign language counseling or complaint receiving service.
Among 159 member institutions of the IOI, 32 institutions participated in the survey. By region, 1 in Africa, 6 in Asia, 3 in Australasia and Pacific (APOR), 3 in Caribbean and Latin America, 18 in Europe and 1 in North America responded. Among those institutions, 14 do receive complaints in any foreign language. Another 14 institutions receive complaints in some foreign languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, etc. as well as their official language(s), and 4 institutions do not receive complaints in foreign language.
Based on the survey result, Europe has many institutions which receive complaints in all foreign languages, and the foreign language services provided by Ombudsman agencies vary depending on the size of country, the number of residing foreigners, and the need to provide such foreign language service in terms of cultural and economic exchanges. Meanwhile, the ACRC is operating e-People, the online complaint receiving system, enabling people to file complaints in 12 languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Uzbek, Cambodian, Bangladeshi, Mongolian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese). In addition, the 110 Government Call Center managed by the ACRC provides counseling in 20 languages by collaborating with other related agencies.
The survey showed that many Ombudsman institutions have systems to remove the language barrier for complaint filing or counseling. However, given the expanding globalization and human exchanges across the border, it seems to be needed for Ombudsman institutions to improve their foreign language service for paying more attention to and caring for foreigners residing in their national territory.
For more detailed information, please consult the attached document.
Source: Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission
