The former Irish Ombudsman Kevin Murphy, who succeeded the first Ombudsman Michael Mills in 1994, passed away on 4 March 2012.

The Austrian public broadcasting company ORF expands its services for deaf and hearing impaired persons. This includes the popular weekly TV-Show “BürgerAnwalt” in which Ombudspersons Peter Kostelka, Gertrude Brinek and Terezija Stoisits present current cases.

The US Ombudsman Association (USOA)  is currently planning its annual conference scheduled for October and seeks speakers interested in sharing their subject matter expertise relevant to the public sector ombudsman profession.

The European network of equality bodies (EQUINET) published a new perspective on Equality Bodies and National Human Rights Institutions. It aims to tighten the links developed between equality bodies and national human rights institutions.

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) published a performance report on the work of his office in 2011. The FTO could raise the amount which was refunded to Pakistan’s taxpayers and also enhanced the processing time of complaints.

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.