The majority of the Austrian population lacks knowledge and has prejudices when it comes to the issue of asylum. This is the main result of an UNHCR study that was presented in the premises of the Austrian Ombudsman Board on 14 June 2011.

Today, Morten Kjaerum, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) presented his Annual Report to the Committee of the European Parliament for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). It provides in-depth evidence and analysis of fundamental rights across a range of policy areas.

Fresh from the press, the second annual “Rule of Law Index” was released on 13 June 2011 in Washington DC by the World Justice Project. The Index provides detailed information, which enables stakeholders to assess a nation's adherence to the rule of law in practice, identify strengths and weaknesses, and track changes over time.

For the second time the Sharpening Your Teeth Training for staff members of ombudsman institutions was hosted by the Vienna-based General Secretariat. The I.O.I. financed nine scholarships for participants from Lesotho, Tanzania, Uganda, Mauritius, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten and Romania.

Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen has written to inform the Danish Parliament that he wishes to retire as ombudsman at the end of January 2012. 

According to his annual report, Alex Brenninkmeijer, the National Ombudsman of the Netherlands, received almost 14,000 complaints and 31,000 telephone calls last year.

The Bylaws and Governance sub-committee of the Board met in Vienna in late May. Building on the work begun at the Board meeting in Bermuda, Mats Melin produced a refined draft of possible changes to strengthen and clarify the role of the I.O.I. in a changing world.

This morning, Secretary General Peter Kostelka officially opened this year's SYT-Training in Vienna with a short introductory speech about the IOI and the role of Ombudsmen in general. 37 Participants from all over the world then engaged in the first session.