The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) of Macao plays a vital role in ensuring fair and transparent elections. It combats electoral bribery by monitoring campaign activities. Citizens can report suspected violations via hotline, online platform, or in-person visits to the CCAC. The CCAC also conducts on-site inspections and intervenes early when irregularities arise.

In preparation for the 2025 Legislative Assembly Elections, the CCAC launched a comprehensive campaign to promote clean elections in Macao, China. As part of its outreach efforts, the CCAC organised a series of community promotion tours, which attracted thousands of participants. To further engage the public, the CCAC expanded its presence across social media platforms, released tailored animated content and launched a radio series to address public concerns.

The CCAC organised a sticker design contest to promote clean elections, which received several hundred entries from participants in both the youth and open categories. The contest culminated in an award ceremony celebrating the winning designs. Additionally, a WeChat game was launched, offering participants the chance to win prizes by answering questions related to election law and clean election scenarios.

The CCAC also participated in the Legislative Assembly Elections Campaign Kick-off Day on 30^th August, where it promoted the values of clean elections among candidates, campaign teams and voters.

The Legislative Assembly Elections were successfully held on 14^th September 2025, thanks to the joint efforts of the CCAC and the citizens of Macao, China.

Chief Ombudsman Mr. Mehmet Akarca and Ombudsman Mr. Sadettin Kalkan attended the 26^th Board of Directors and 18^th General Assembly Meetings of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA), held in Nanjing, China on 9-10 September 2025.

During the program, bilateral meetings were held with Vice Chairman of the National Commission of Supervision of China Mr. FU Kui and High Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Russian Federation Ms. Tatiana Moskalkova.

Chief Ombudsman Mr. Mehmet Akarca also delivered a speech at the International Workshop on “Effective Ombudsmanship for People’s Livelihood,” highlighting the role of Ombudsman Institutions in promoting access to justice, protecting fundamental rights, ensuring good administration, and fostering public trust. He emphasized that strong Ombudsman Institutions improve public services, contribute to social harmony, and benefit society as a whole.

– ACRC offered about 300 million won in rewards to 32 whistleblowers for corruption and public interest violations this month (August)… The revenues recovered through corruption and public interest reports by public institutions reached about 3.1 billion won.

(26, August. 2025, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) announced that it paid about 300 million won in rewards to 32 whistleblowers for corruption and public interest violations in August.

According to data compiled by the ACRC, the amount of revenues recovered by public institutions through corruption and public interest reports this month reached about 3.1 billion won. The top three sectors in which the biggest rewards were received were: employment (about 160 million won, 55.5%); research and development (about 60 million won, 21.2%); and welfare (about 20 million won, 8.2%).

< Cases of Reward Payment by Sector >

Furthermore, the ACRC additionally paid approximately 7 million won in rewards to six whistleblowers for cases where only partial rewards were initially provided, due to incomplete recovery of revenues by public institutions, after these institutions have seen additional recovery to their revenues.

Kim Eung Tae, Director General of the Inspection and Protection Bureau of the ACRC, said, “The ACRC uncovers corruption and public interest infringements that occur in a clandestine manner in our society through reports, and provides corresponding rewards to whistleblowers,” adding that “we will continue to provide rewards in an active manner to whistleblowers to encourage more active reporting.”

In a high-impact intervention, the Ombudsman Punjab oversaw the retrieval of 300 kanals of state land, valued at over Rs. 499 million, from illegal occupants across various districts.
This action, taken in response to public complaints, not only recovered precious government resources but also demonstrated the institution’s resolve against land grabbing and administrative negligence. Citizens across the province expressed gratitude for the decisive action taken to safeguard public property.

This province-wide operation reflects the Ombudsman’s strong commitment to protection of state assets, curbing maladministration, and ensuring accountability in public land management. The public has widely lauded this decisive action as a measure of institutional strength and integrity.

The Commissioner Against Corruption, Ao Ieong Seong, led a delegation of the CCAC of Macao to attend the 18^th Meeting of the General Assembly of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) in Nanjing in recent days. The delegation also visited the Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Supervision.

The event was organised by the National Commission of Supervision, with the aim to gather the Asian member institutions to jointly discuss regional affairs and exchange supervisory work experience. Dozens of supervisory and ombudsman institutions in countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Russia and Pakistan sent their representatives to attend the meeting.

President of the AOA, Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, reported a series of events hosted by the association, the 2023/2024 audited financial situations of the AOA accounts and some other matters in the meeting. Afterwards, an international workshop themed “Effective Ombudsmanship for People’s Livelihood” was held.

In addition, Ao Ieong Seong and the delegation visited the Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Supervision where they met with its Director, Zhang Zhong. Ao Ieong Seong stated that the CCAC will promote to fulfil the governance requirement of implementing a rule-of-law society and achieve the SAR Government’s goal of good governance. Zhang Zhong introduced the anti-corruption work of the Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Supervision and shared the experience of integrity building.

The Head of the Research Department of the Ombudsman Bureau of the CCAC, Ng Soi Hong, and some others also attended the meetings.

The Commissioner Against Corruption, Ao Ieong Seong, and the Head of the Research Department of the Ombudsman Bureau, Ng Soi Hong, attending the meeting

The Ombudsman, Mr. Jack Chan, today (26 September) announced the completion of a full investigation into the Hospital Authority (“HA”)’s deposit refund arrangements for the assistive device loan service, with 12 recommendations on improvement measures made.

Hospitals under HA have assistive devices available for loan, free of rental charge, to patients with clinical needs, aiming to facilitate their rehabilitation progress and daily living during the initial post-discharge period.  HA requires borrowers to pay a deposit refundable upon the proper return of the loaned devices.

Mr. Chan said, “The Office received a complaint that after returning the wheelchair to the Occupational Therapy Department (“OTD”) of a hospital under HA, the complainant brought a written certificate issued by the OTD confirming that the wheelchair had been properly returned to the Shroff Office to request a refund of the deposit.  However, the staff insisted that the complainant could not obtain a refund without presenting the deposit receipt. The complainant considered the certificate from the OTD, together with his own identity document, sufficient to prove the return of the wheelchair and his identity as the borrower.  He alleged that the hospital concerned was unreasonable in requiring him to present the deposit receipt as a prerequisite for the refund.

“Assistive devices help patients in need manage daily living activities and facilitate their rehabilitation progress.  We commend HA for providing free-of-charge assistive device loan service to support patients and their carers.  As the refund of deposits involves financial transactions, we acknowledge that HA must handle these with caution.  Nevertheless, during our full investigation, we were concerned about the inconvenience caused to the public by the HA’s requirement and any room for improvement.

“The Office’s investigation found that hospitals already record the complainant’s name and deposit amount in the computer system at the time of payment.  On the day of returning the wheelchair, the Deposit Refund Notice issued by the Allied Health Department certifying that the borrower has returned the device intact, and identity document presented by the complainant were sufficient to confirm the return of the wheelchair and his identity.  After confirming the hospital’s records in the computer system, it was actually unnecessary for Shroff staff to require the complainant to present the deposit receipt for verifying such information and status.  Hence, in our view, the hospital concerned insisting that the complainant present the deposit receipt for refund collection after returning the assistive device was overly rigid, inflexible and redundant in practice. HA should modernise and enhance its existing arrangements.  This would help avoid the inconvenient situations where members of the public are denied a refund for not bringing a receipt.”

The Office is pleased to note that HA is in the process of reviewing and enhancing the procedures for the assistive device loan service.  HA agreed that borrowers will no longer be required to present the deposit receipt when applying for a refund.  This Office in this full investigation made 12 recommendations for improvement to HA, and HA expressed its agreement and full commitment to implementing them.

The main recommendations for improvement made by this Office to HA include:

• expediting the enhancement of arrangements and workflow for the assistive device loan service at public hospitals to standardise the current practice of allowing the authorisation of a representative to collect deposit refunds, and removing the requirement for borrowers to present the deposit receipt when applying for a refund;
• after completing the enhancements, clearly specifying in the relevant internal guidelines and the booklet for the borrowers the supporting documents the authorised representative of borrowers must present to collect deposit refunds;
• sharing this case with staff responsible for handling applications for borrowing assistive devices and related deposits, and providing staff training to ensure their awareness and understanding of the newly formulated guidelines; and
• Formulating measures to ensure that all public hospitals consistently adhere to the new guidelines in handling assistive device loan cases in future.

The full investigation report has been uploaded to the website of the Office of The Ombudsman for public information.

Deputy General Directors of Prisons and Detention Houses Mr. Fatih Güngör and Mr. Namık Kemal Varol, Head of Department Ms. Armağan Buran, and Judge Ms. Burcu Dölek paid a visit to the Ombudsman Institution, on 21 August 2025.

During the meeting with Ombudsman Ms. Fatma Benli Yalçın and experts from the Ombudsman Institution, information was shared and views were exchanged regarding the work carried out for children.

• WAFAQI MOHTASIB’S INSPECTION TEAM VISITS BISP,
• TAKES SERIOUS NOTICE OF IRREGULARITIES IN DISBURSEMENT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE,
• SUGGESTS TRANSFER OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE DIRECTLY INTO BANK ACCOUNTS OF BENEFICIARIES

Islamabad: 08 August, 2025 – An Inspection Team from the Federal Ombudsman (Wafaqi Mohtasib) Secretariat headed by a Senior Advisor, Mr. Ahmad Farooq, which visited the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Head Office here today to look into a large number of complaints regarding irregularities there, submitted its preliminary Report to the Wafaqi Mohtasib.

The Inspection Team asked the BISP Administration to examine the possibility of transferring the amount of financial assistance directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. It also instructed to conduct a thorough probe into the allegations of corruption levelled by some of the beneficiaries against certain officials of the organization. The Team also directed that the women, who have been declared ineligible for grant of assistance, may be intimated in writing of the reasons which would spare   them of the hassle of visiting the office repeatedly.

The Inspection Team also interacted with the women present there. Some of them complained that they have been made to visit the office repeatedly and a certain amount was often deducted unfairly from the prescribed grant. Likewise, the women considered ineligible for the grant of assistance, have not been informed of the reasons in clear terms. ‘The Administration rather collects their CNICs from them and put on these future dates in indelible ink, which rendered them spoiled and unsuitable for future use’, they disclosed.

Earlier, the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s team was briefed on various ongoing projects by the BISP Administration. It was informed that the basic purpose of the Programme was to help the persons and families living below the poverty line and the organization was presently disbursing financial relief to more than 10 million deserving families in addition to making arrangements for the education and brought up of children including provision of healthy food for the new born.

The Office of the Provincial Ombudsman Sindh, in partnership with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Sindh, hosted a high-impact awareness seminar on 24th July 2025 aimed at enhancing citizen engagement, improving access to justice, and fostering collaborative humanitarian action.

In his presidential address, Mr. Mohammad Sohail Rajput, Provincial Ombudsman Sindh, highlighted the urgent need to bridge the gap between institutions and the public. “Out of a population of 55.5 million, only 9,000 complaints have been filed – an indication of limited public awareness and institutional trust,” he noted. Impressively, over 6,700 of these complaints have already been resolved. Mr. Rajput also outlined a series of forward-looking reforms, including the digitization of the complaint redressal mechanism, the launch of a bilingual mobile application, and an upcoming Memorandum of Understanding with PRCS Sindh to strengthen joint efforts in public service delivery and disaster response.

Mr. Rehan Hashmi, Chairman, PRCS Sindh, praised the Ombudsman’s leadership and emphasized the critical role of outreach in enabling citizens to access free, timely, and impartial justice.

Insightful presentations were delivered by Mr. Imdad Hussain Siddiqui, Director, Climate and Disaster Justice Unit, Ombudsman Sindh Secretariat; Mr. Masood Ishrat, Registrar, Ombudsman Sindh Secretariat; and Mr. Kanwar Waseem, Provincial Secretary, PRCS Sindh.

The seminar brought together provincial leadership and representatives from UN agencies, international NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), local support organizations (LSOs), civil society organizations (CSOs) and other humanitarian partners. Their active participation highlighted a growing momentum towards collaborative, citizen-centric governance and resilient public institutions.

This milestone event positions the Provincial Ombudsman Sindh as a regional model for innovation in ombudsmanship, emphasizing transparency, digital inclusion, and cross-sectoral cooperation to protect and empower citizens.

On 11 August 2025, at the initiative of the Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), and in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Office in Uzbekistan, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, a two-day seminar on “Mechanisms to Combat Violence Against Women and Children in Social Networks” commenced.

The seminar is attended by experts from Latvia’s “Marta” Centre, staff of the Secretariat of the Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), as well as representatives of non-governmental non-profit organizations and civil society institutions.

The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that, to properly identify cases of cyberviolence, provide legal and practical assistance to victims, and effectively organize inter-agency cooperation, the staff of the Ombudsman must possess modern knowledge and skills. This, in turn, will contribute to increasing legal awareness among the population and implementing international recommendations in practice.

According to the World Health Organization, one in ten women in the online space experiences some form of cyberviolence from the age of 15. Research by the European Institute for Gender Equality shows that cyberviolence can affect anyone; however, women and girls are more likely to become its main target. Such violence can cause serious harm to their physical and mental health and may also lead to financial difficulties.

Within the framework of the seminar, participants are receiving information on the types and forms of cyberviolence, manifestations of discrimination in the online space, as well as the distinctions between “freedom of expression” and discriminatory content. Through practical exercises, they will analyze real-life situations, explore methods of assisting victims, work with digital evidence, and study tools for the early detection and prevention of cyberviolence based on international experience.