On 3 March 2011, the House of Representatives (Parliament) of Cyprus approved the Ministerial Council's proposal that Ms Eliza Savvidou be the next Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman) of Cyprus.

On 23 March 2011 I.O.I. President and New Zealand Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem opened the 26^th Australasian and Pacific Ombudsman Conference of the I.O.I. in Taipei that was hosted by the Control Yuan of Taiwan. The opening remarks are now online.

Today, on 23 March 2011, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released its report 'Access to justice in Europe: an overview of challenges and opportunities'.

The vulnerable situation in which migrants find themselves is of extreme measure, particularly, in cases of kidnappings which violate personal dignity and the rights that such dignity implies. This report aims to provide information on the current situation of migrant kidnappings as well as to evaluate the methods of raising awareness and prevention that are in place.

The Mediator of the French Republic, which will replace the Defender of Rights, presented its latest annual report to the President of the Republic 21 March 2011.

On 21 March 2011, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Court of Human Rights launched a jointly produced Handbook on European non-discrimination law, at a seminar for legal practitioners hosted by the Court, in Strasbourg.

According to the draft the future Hungarian constitution will contain new elements for the ombudsman institution which are both symbolic and substantive.

In a joint statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Nils Muiznieks, Chair of the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI); Morten Kjaerum, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA); and Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), strongly condemned manifestations of racism and related intolerance.