In their efforts to further increase the regional impact of the IOI, the members of the IOI Board of Directors decided at their Board meeting held in New York City in May 2022 to continue the regional subsidy programme for the membership year 2022/2023.

Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé on August 10, 2022 reported that public concerns and complaints to the provincial watchdog have returned almost to pre-pandemic levels. His office fielded 25,161 complaints and inquiries in fiscal 2021-2022, an increase of 25% over the previous year. Most (52%) were resolved in two weeks or less.

L’Ombudsman de l’Ontario, Paul Dubé, a fait savoir le 10 août 2022 que les préoccupations et les plaintes du public adressées à son bureau de « chien de garde provincial » sont presque revenues à leurs niveaux prépandémiques. Son bureau a traité 25 161 plaintes et demandes de renseignements durant l’année financière 2021-2022, soit une hausse de 25 % par rapport à l’année précédente. La plupart (52 %) ont été résolues en deux semaines ou moins.

El Departamento de Investigaciones de la PPN publica un nuevo informe con estadísticas y datos sobre el encarcelamiento en Argentina, el rol del Estado en las políticas penitenciarias y las evoluciones de las cifras de personas encarceladas a nivel mundial.

Last year, NHRIs again rose to the challenge of protecting and promoting human rights against the backdrop of COVID-19. Lockdowns and other restrictions continued to force changes in the support they could give rightsholders and to their working practices. Yet they adjusted. NHRIs’ wide-ranging achievements in these difficult circumstances – a testament to their flexibility and resilience – are captured in ENNHRI’s Annual Report 2021.

The Office of the Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia and the Association of Mediterranean Ombudsmen are organizing an International Conference on “The Rights of Older Persons and Role of Ombudsman and Mediator Institutions”, which will take place on 27 September 2022, in Tbilisi, Georgia and online. For more information on the conference and on how to register kindly click here.

On 1 August 2022, Ms. Gaby Schwarz took office as the new Secretary General of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). Ms. Schwarz was sworn in as a member of the Austrian Ombudsman Board on 11 July 2022 and takes over the office of IOI Secretary General from her predecessor Werner Amon, who resigned as Austrian Ombudsman at the end of June 2022.

The Board of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) has revoked the membership of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation (Commissioner).