International Ombudsman Institute


The International Ombudsman Institute, established in 1978, is the only global organisation for the cooperation of more than 200 independent Ombudsman institutions operating on a local, regional and national level from more than 100 countries worldwide. The IOI's current President Nashieli Ramírez Hernández is scheduled to hold office for four years from 2024 to 2028. Hernández was appointed after the immediate former President Chris Field, also then the Ombudsman of Western Australia, stepped down in March 2024 only part-way through his term amidst an investigation into his own conduct as WA's Ombudsman. Werner Amon, Chair of the Austrian Ombudsman Board, is the IOI's Secretary General since July 2019.
The role of Ombudsman institutions is to protect the people against the violation of rights, abuse of powers, unfair decisions and maladministration. In this sense, Ombudsman institutions are national [human rights institution]s. They play an increasingly important role in improving public administration while making the government's actions more open and its administration more accountable to the public.
In its effort to focus on good governance and capacity building, the IOI supports its members in a threefold way: training, research and regional subsidies for projects. The IOI is organised in six regional chapters and has three working languages.
The General Secretariat is located in Vienna and is run by the Austrian Ombudsman Board since 2009.
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Comparison and relation to national human rights institutions

Many Ombudsman institutions works as national human rights institution, while many works as mediators. In 2020, the General Assembly of United Nations "recognized that the role of Ombudsman and mediator institutions, whether they are national human rights institutions or not, is the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, promotion of good governance and respect for the rule of law". Also in 2020, a report to the Secretary General of UN General Assembly, encouraged "the Ombudsman, mediator and other national human rights institutions to request accreditation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions."

Presidents