On 17 August 2023, the Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, announced at a press conference the completion of a direct investigation into the Government’s enforcement against defective sewage works of New Territories Exempted Houses (“NTEHs”) and made 10 recommendations for improvement to the Environmental Protection Department (“EPD”), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”) and the Lands Department (“LandsD”).

The report published by the Greek Ombudsman is a brief record of the findings from the cases handled by the Authority in the period 2011-2022 concerning harassment and sexual harassment in employment and at work. It offers the reader a broad overview of the institutional framework, on the national, European and international level, for the prevention and investigation of harassment and sexual harassment, as well as the imposition of effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.

On 2 August 2023, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, published a statement regarding his Office’s investigation, ‘Lessons in Lawfulness’ into Services Australia’s and the Department of Social Services’ response to the question of the lawfulness of income apportionment before 7 December 2020.

The United Nations Committee against Torture has called on the New Zealand Government to reduce the disproportionately high number of Māori in prisons and to improve the conditions of people in detention, noting that transformational change is needed. It also expressed concern about the use of pretrial detention, and lack of time limits for pretrial detention. Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says the UN’s findings echo the concerns he has repeatedly raised in many of his inspection reports, including in prisons and health and disability facilities.

El defensor del Pueblo de la provincia de Santa Fe a cargo Gabriel Savino participó el martes, el 1 de agosto de 2023, como moderador de la exposición virtual sobre “Inteligencia Artificial y Derechos Humanos. El rol de los Defensores del Pueblo”, que estuvo a cargo de Juan Belikow, especialista en Relaciones Internacionales, Defensa y Seguridad Internacional.

On 9 August 2023, Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina participated in the seminar entitled Ohranjanje psihofizičnega zdravja družin otrok s posebnimi potrebami (Preserving the psychophysical health of families of children with special needs), organised by Zveza Sožitje in Izola. Ombudsman Svetina believes that it is important that we are aware of the importance of preserving the psychophysical health of families every day, especially in these times when many families are facing the consequences of the natural disaster.

El Defensor del Pueblo andaluz, Jesús Maeztu, ha iniciado queja de oficio ante diversas quejas recibidas que denuncian la falta de cobertura de puestos de administración y servicios (administrativos, ordenanzas y personal de limpieza) en los Centros de Educación Secundaria de la Comunidad.

Join the African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC), the research and training arm of the African Ombudsman and Mediators' Association (AOMA) for the thought-provoking webinar on "Addressing Gender-based violence and Harassment: The Ombudsman's Role in Ensuring Women's safety and empowerment" on Tuesday, 29 August 2023 from 10 am - 11:30 am (GMT+2), organised in collaboration with the International Ombudsman Institute.