The International Anti-Corruption Academy recently published its fourth newsletter of the year 2013.

On 12 and 13 November in Athens, the Greek Ombudsman celebrated the 15^th anniversary of the institution, at a symposium held at the Auditorium of the Acropolis Museum with the support of the Council of Europe.

Former IOI president, New Zealand’s Sir Brian Elwood, presided over the IOI World Conference when it was held in Durban in 2000. On behalf of the IOI he has provided a reflection on what was a very moving occasion and one which underlined the direction Nelson Mandela had taken in the pursuit of access to justice and upholding human rights for all the citizens of his country.

At the beginning of December, a UN General Assembly Resolution on National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) was passed by consensus, enjoying cross-regional support and co-sponsored by 70 UN member states.

At its New York meeting in September 2013, the IOI Board of Directors acknowledged that the Commission on Administrative Justice fulfilled the criteria set out in the IOI By-laws and accept the Commission of Administrative Justice as Voting member of the IOI.

The Office of the Catalan Ombudsman published the December edition of its e-Newsletter. The full version of the English Newsletter is available here.

The Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta) re-elected Parliamentary Ombudsman Petri Jääskeläinen to continue in office for another four-year term 2014 - 2017.

On 2 and 3 December 2013 the Office of the Ombudsman for the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain organised a training session on "Investigation Skills" in which former Northern Ireland's Prisoner Ombudsman Pauline McCabe and Senior Investigating Officer in Northern Ireland Clare McVeigh lectured.