With support of UNESCO the X Baku Conference of Ombudsman took place from 18^th to 20^th June. Azerbaijan Commissioner of Human Rights, Elmira Suleymanova was pleased to welcome participants from all over the world, including representatives of Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Turkey who joined the Baku Conference for the first time.

The FRA Annual Report 2011 provides in-depth evidence and analysis of fundamental rights developments in the EU, its Member States and Croatia. It points out achievements, such as national reforms in child protection systems and efforts to shorten the length of court proceedings as well as EU legislative and policy measures in, for example, the areas of victim protection, human trafficking and Roma integration.

In his Annual Report, laid before the National Assembly for Wales on 20 June 2012, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Peter Tyndall, reveals that once again there has been an increase in the volume of casework at his office. Enquiries rose by 66% compared to 2010/11. Complaints about public bodies were up by 13% overall with complaints about health bodies up 55% on the previous year.

In his report, Ontario Ombudsman André Marin called on the government of Ontario to protect the public interest in tough economic times by ensuring citizens have the opportunity to complain to his office – as more than 18,500 of them did in 2011-2012.

The 9^th thematic workshop “Irregular migrants, Frontex and the NPMs”, the final workshop within the framework of the Council of Europe's "Peer to Peer II" project was held in Belgrade 12-13 June 2012. The event assembling several ombudsman institutions was hosted by the Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Mrs. Valeriya Lutkovska and representatives of non-governmental organizations discussed strategy and mechanisms of collaboration in the field of protection of the right to access to public information.

A new FRA Working Paper includes statistical data on antisemitic incidents collected by supranational, governmental and NGO sources. The update shows that antisemitism remains a problem for civil society as a whole and for Jewish populations in particular across the EU.

During its recent meeting the IOI Board of Directors took decisions on several applications for individual, associate and institutional membership. Welcoming the new members to the IOI family the General Secretariat presents the main facts and figures of each new member continuing with the Ombudsman of Tuscany.