BackOn 19 May 2021, the outgoing IOI Board of Directors held its annual meeting to take stock of last year’s achievements and to discuss upcoming projects and priorities. This meeting was the last Board meeting in the current composition, as the new Board of Directors under the newly elected IOI President, Mr. Chris Field, will take up its work next week.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic this year’s meeting was held online and again facilitated by the Office of IOI President and Ombudsman of Ireland, Mr. Peter Tyndall. Despite the challenge of accommodating members’ different time zones, almost all current Board members attended the meeting and engaged in fruitful discussions on a diverse range of topics.
In his opening speech IOI President Tyndall reflected on the IOI’s achievements in the past year, especially on the successful adoption of the UN Resolution on ‘The role of Ombudsman and mediator institutions in the promotion and protection of human rights, good governance and the rule of law’ and its endorsement of the ‘Venice Principles’, touched upon the issue of ‘Ombudsman under threat’ and the widening membership of the IOI, which now has more than 200 members from more than 100 countries on all continents.
The IOI Board approved membership of five institutions from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and spoke about the technicalities of the upcoming General Assembly, which will take place on 25 May 2021.
IOI Secretary General, Mr. Werner Amon, also gave a brief report about the IOI General Secretariat’s work in the past year including on regional subsidies to IOI members and IOI Executive Director, Ms Ulrike Grieshofer, elaborated on past and upcoming IOI training initiatives and publications, in particular on the IOI’s Best Practice Paper series.
Incoming President Field and many other Board members thanked the outgoing President Tyndall for his great leadership and extraordinary work in the past five years, which will culminate in the 12th IOI World Conference and General Assembly taking place from 25 to 27 May 2021, hosted by President Tyndall and his team. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, both events, which were supposed to take place in Dublin, will be held online, but will nevertheless try to bring a taste of Ireland to IOI members’ homes and offices.
