IOI | IOI participates at CAROA Conference and signs MoU

IOI President Peter Tyndall and Nilda Arduin, President of the Caribbean Ombudsman Association (CAROA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of their respective organisations during the 9^th Biannual CAROA Conference that was held from 11 – 13 June 2017 in Bonaire.

"Networking with other institutions is key; without the IOI I would not have been able to achieve what I did," said Nilda Arduin, who is also the IOI Regional President of the Caribbean and Latin America, upon signing the MoU.

During the conference that was hosted by the Ombudsman of Bonaire and the Netherlands Reinier van Zuthpen, topics such as non-traditional issues pertaining to ombudsmanship, networking and challenges facing the ombudsman were discussed in detail. The fact that some ombudsman could not attend the conference due to mainly budgetary constraints, will be reflected in a declaration that will be developed over the next weeks. IOI Secretary General Günther Kräuter concluded in this regard that “being able to travel to international conferences to learn and share experiences is vital and a proof of independence”.

After the conference a 1,5 day complaint handling training led by the Queen Margaret University is offered to participants to further develop skills and build capacity of the Caribbean ombudsman institutions.