KOREA | International Conference on "Past, Present and Future Perspective of Asian Ombudsman"

This week, from 16 - 19 May, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) and the Ombudsman Commission of Gangwon Province are holding the 15th General Assembly of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) as well as the 2017 PyeongChang Global Ombudsman Conference in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Korea.

The event has been organized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the AOA. International experts from various institutions, such as the IOI and the Australian And New Zealand Ombudsman Association (ANZOA) as well as representatives from numerous Ombudsman institutions will discuss past, present and future perspectives of Asian Ombudsman institutions. On the first day the 20th AOA Board of Directors meeting and IOI Asia regional meeting as well as the 15th General Assembly of the AOA will be held. On the following days the PyeongChang Ombudsman Conference sessions take place dealing with topics like development of the ombudsman system by analyzing political, administrative and social changes.

Over 400 representatives from numerous Ombudsman institutions, the IOI and other organizations across the world will participate at this international conference. Experts from the IOI and ANZOA have been invited to make presentations sharing their insightful ideas on the development direction for the Asian Ombudsmen. In addition, 18 heads of Asian Ombudsman institutions will debate the future strategy for the Asian ombudsman institutions based on each country's experience and learning.

One of the key topics is to illustrate how synergy effects can be created by integrating anti-corruption functions in the ombudsman mandate.

Mr. Cheong Weng Chon, Commissioner Against Corruption of Macau (CCAC) will introduce the commission's activities to effectively prevent corruption and protect people's rights and interests through running the institution and organization under the dual mandates, focusing the functional integration as necessary element for the fair and free society.

Ms. Diane Welborn, First Vice-President of the IOI, in her opening speech, argues that Ombudsman may carry out comprehensive anti-corruption activities based on transparency and rule of law principle to effectively solve the persistent corruption problems faced by most of the countries, and praises the ACRC as one of the successful Ombudsmen in that regard.

This 15th general assembly of the AOA is the first meeting in its 20 history to be held jointly by national and provincial ombudsman. Also it is the first conference taking place in a local region, not a capital. Since this event is going to be taken place several months before the opening day of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic games, Gangwon province hopes to draw attention to the upcoming Olympics from participants from countries around the world.

Source: Ombudsman Commission Gangwon Province, Korea