Regional subsidies

In the membership year 2010/2011 the IOI reseved funds up to a maximum of EUR 50,000.00 for regional projects. Member institutions were invited to submit project proposals with a focus on training activities. Six applicants from five of the six I.O.I. World Regions were successful in the selection process carried out by the I.O.I. Executive Committee in spring 2011.

Three projects consist of offering SYT training courses. The Caribbean and Latin American Region has already had the opportunity to send two ombudsmen to the SYT training sessions held in Vienna. In addition, ombudsmen and staff from this region were be able to attend the SYT training course in Florida in autumn 2011. Burkina Faso will organise a French-speaking SYT training for ombudsman institutions in Africa. The North American Region held the above-mentioned SYT training session in Florida in October 2011.

In addition, the I.O.I. will provide support for an e-learning platform in Spanish. The Ombudsman of Peru has been operating an e-learning platform on ombudsman-related issues and thanks to the I.O.I.’s regional commitment, an upgraded version of this e-learning platform will soon be available.

The Association of Mediterranean Ombudsmen (AOM), i.e. the French Défenseur des droits together with the Moroccan ombudsman, received a subsidy for the training programme ‘The Ombudsmen’s means of intervention’, that took place in Rabat/Morocco in December 2011.

The European region carried out two workshops with the financial assistance of the I.O.I. A workshop hosted by the Polish member institution held in Warsaw in September 2011 concerned the role of ombudsman institutions in the OPCAT framework. The second workshop hosted by the Catalan Ombudsman focused on the role of the ombudsman when it comes to dealing with private companies providing public services