IOI President and New Zealand Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem has been made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, the honor was bestowed as part of celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

A discussion on the implementation of recommendations given to Azerbaijan in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was held at the Ombudsman Office jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights requested the Constitutional Court to examine the provision of the Act on Electoral Procedure which limits in HUF 1 million per candidate the amount that can be used during the electoral campaign for Members of Parliament. The Ombudsman has invited the Constitutional Court to examine also a possible failure to act by the law-maker in connection with the control of the utilisation of campaign funds.

Chien-shien Wang, President of the Control Yuan, recently published the latest annual report. The 2011 report contains the summary of the Control Yuan's work including handling complaints and assuring good governance, sunshine acts, auditing, human rights protection, and international engagement.

The Albanian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities responded to the official note on measures to be taken for the improvement of conditions and treatment of women and children accommodated in the Centre for Reception and Treatment of the Victims of Violence.

The Laxenburg (Austria) based International Anti-Corruption Academy recently released an issue of its newsletter giving information on new members and the new partnership with the Republic of Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission that is also an IOI member.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published two new reports on the rights of people with disabilities. The reports highlight the need to move from institutional to community-based living arrangements and to reformulate laws and policies to make them more inclusive.

During its mid-term meeting that took place from 7 to 8 May 2012 in Hong Kong, 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 Correctional Investigator of Canada.