The Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) has commented on the Draft National Plan of Action for Persons with Disabilities, welcomes the agenda in general but also identifies several deficiencies.

The IOI Board of Directors agreed to hold a mid-term working meeting from 7 to 8 May 2012 in Hong Kong, which is generously hosted by IOI Treasurer and Hong Kong Ombudsman Alan N. Lai. The primary focus of this meeting will be on the results of the regional consultation on the by-laws reform and preparations for the upcoming IOI World Conference.

The new edition of the e-newsletter of Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin reports on the Ombudsman’s fifth year of investigating public complaints about closed municipal meetings.  Andre Marin plans to launch a special Annual Report on this matter later this year.

The African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA) recently released its new newsletter including a wide range of information on ombudsman institutions on the African continent.

The Bermuda government authorised the development of the tourist resort 'Tucker’s Point' without requiring an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) beforehand. Bermuda Ombudsman Arlene Brock investigated the case and recently published a report on that matter.

The Deputy Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Nationalities living in Hungary and the Deputy Commissioner for Future Generations present their new agenda after the Hungarian Ombudsman Institution has been recently restructured.

Mr. Howard Sapers has been reappointed as the Correctional Investigator of Canada by the Minister of Public Safety. His task is to bring resolution to individual offender complaints, identify issues of concern within the federal correctional system, and to propose fair and effective advice and solutions.

The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) recently published a factsheet on  ‘multiple discrimination’ in healthcare, for instance, by older people with an ethnic or minority background. Its results will inform the debate on how best to address multiple discrimination.