Mst. Madiha widow of Faizan Ali approached the Provincial Ombudsman  Sindh Mr. Ajaz Ali Khan stating that the authorities concerned has refused to process her request for appointment in place of her deceased husband who served as Draftsman in the Office of Executive Engineer, Buildings Division, Hyderabad and died during service in July, 2018.

To redress grievance of the complainant, the Ombudsman Sindh issued directives to the authorities concerned to initiate enquiry against the Officers/Officials responsible for delaying the matter. Due to intervention of the Ombudsman, the process and procedure of scrutiny by the concerned departments was expedited and the case of the complainant was sent to the District Recruitment Committee for verification and approval. Resultantly, the committee found that the complainant met the criteria laid down for appointment as Telephone Operator and was accordingly appointed enabling her to take  care of her kids.   

The complainant appreciated and thanked the Ombudsman Sindh for her appointment against the deceased quota after four years of the death of her husband.

– The completion ceremony was held on November 23 after 10 days of training in “ACRC Training Course for International Anti-Corruption Practitioners” for countries, including Ethiopia and Indonesia –

A training course sharing Korea’s best practices of anti-corruption policies, such as Integrity Assessment of public institutions and Corruption Risk Assessment, with 7 countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, was completed.

The Anti-Corruption Training Institute of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui, ACRC) provided “10th ACRC Training Course for International Anti-Corruption Practitioners” for 10 days starting from November 14 and held a completion ceremony on the 23rd in Seoul.

13 people from 7 Asian and African countries, including Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, participated in the 2022 training course.

The ACRC designed the training course for foreign countries to build capacity for the effective establishment of anti-corruption systems.

To this end, the training course consisted of Korea’s major anti-corruption policies and systems that are highly recognized by the international community for their excellence, including Integrity Assessment, Anti-Corruption Initiatives Assessment, and Whistleblower Protection System,

In particular, public officials of the ACRC whose duties are policy enforcement were invited in the capacity of instructors so that they could personally share experiences of what they have realized while carrying out policies.

Moreover, this year’s training course included training sessions to enhance understanding of anti-corruption efforts made by the international community. To this end, experts from international organizations, such as the OECD, UNODC, and UNDP, were invited to deliver lectures.

The training course was organized to allow trainees from 7 countries to understand anti-corruption policy trends of the international organizations and provide them substantial opportunities to enhance anti-corruption capacities in a global society.

After 10 days of training, the trainees participated in the completion ceremony of the training course held at Four Points by Sheraton Josun, Seoul Myeongdong in the morning on November 23. The ceremony was composed of the delivery of certificates and farewell speech by Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui, and presentations on the participation in training course by trainees.

The ACRC has provided the ACRC Training Course for International Anti-Corruption Practitioners since 2013. Every year, the Commission provides training courses on Korea’s best practices of anti-corruption policies and IT-based anti-corruption systems, inviting trainees from relevant anti-corruption agencies in countries around the world.

This training course which marks 10th anniversary this year is based on needs and provided in various forms. Previously, courses were provided in English only, but since 2020, courses have been launched and provided in Russian at the request of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia. New training courses will be provided for French-speaking countries in 2023.

ACRC Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui said, “In order for countries around the world to achieve sustainable development, the ACRC will actively promote activities regarding technical assistance for anti-corruption capacity building of each country.”

The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, today (8 December) announced the launch of a direct investigation to examine the repairs and maintenance arrangements of outdoor recreational and sports facilities under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD).

In the course of handling complaint cases, The Ombudsman found that the LCSD’s day-to-day inspection mechanism has failed to discover protracted obvious damage in the facilities at some LCSD venues. This has drawn her attention to the arrangements for repairs and maintenance of the recreational and sports facilities (including children’s play facilities, fitness equipment, safety mats and facilities at sports venues) in public parks and non-fee charging outdoor recreational and sports venues (including hard-surface soccer pitches, basketball courts, handball courts, volleyball courts, gateball courts, roller skating rinks, etc) under the LCSD, and has raised a question of whether there is room for improvement.

As revealed in preliminary inquiries by the Office of The Ombudsman, LCSD staff inspect at least fortnightly all outdoor recreational and sports facilities under the Department. Damage found in the facilities is referred to LCSD contractors for follow-up and repair. Information shows that each year between 2016 and 2020, some 2,000 cases of repairing outdoor children’s play facilities and fitness equipment were arranged by the LCSD; and each year, repairs in over 30 per cent of the cases took more than three months to complete from the day of reporting the facilities’ damage. Some cases even took more than six months. In 2021, similar repair cases saw a noticeable drop in the number and a shorter overall repair time compared to the previous five years. Yet there were still some 200 cases in which repairs took more than three months to complete.

Ms Chiu said, “The LCSD has a duty to provide safe and quality recreational and sports facilities for the public. Improper repairs and maintenance of such facilities will render them useless to the public and even jeopardise user safety. This direct investigation focuses on the LCSD’s outdoor recreational and sports facilities provided to the public for free (i.e. no booking or fee is required for their use). We will look at the LCSD’s arrangements and procedures for the day-to-day examination, repairs and maintenance of the facilities, as well as its monitoring of the performance of the agents of facilities and outsourced repair contractors.”

Federal Ombudsman/President AOA Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi opened on 28 December 2022 AOA Workshop on the Role of the Integrated Computer Technologies in the Public Grievance Redressal System. The two-days Workshop was held online from the platform of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) whose Permanent Secretariat is housed within the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat at Islamabad. Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi is the current President of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA). The Workshop was attended by 43 participants representing ombudsman institutions of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan as well as Provincial Ombudsman institutions of Sindh, KPK, Federal Tax Ombudsman and Banking Mohtasib Pakistan. Head of Ombudsman institutionAzad Jammu & Kashmir is also taking part in the said Workshop.
Addressing the participants, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi stated that the prompt and efficient disposal of complaints is of critical importance in dispensation of justice. The use of ICT is essential in maintaining a credible, transparent, effective and efficient mechanism to sustain the trust of the general public. He added that the application of computer technologies in any field of human endeavour required regular upgradation, R&D and adaptation in line with the emerging requirements.
Federal Ombudsman’s institution in Pakistan shall be celebrating forty years of its establishment in January next year. In this long journey, it has established its credentials as an effective instrument for providing speedy and inexpensive justice to the people and addressed over 1.8 million complaints since its inception. Besides the Head Office in Islamabad, 17 Regional Offices in different parts of the country are performing their statutory functions. Recently, two complaint collection centres were opened in South Waziristan and Kurrum Agency. The Federal Ombudsman’s Office has over the years perfected its complaint handling mechanism comprising investigation, appraisal, review and implementation of decisions. It is now fully capable of resolving complaints of maladministration in large numbers, reaching out to the complainants and holding public hearings at their doorsteps, informal resolution of disputes, inspection of agencies to improve their service delivery and studying the root causes of maladministration. It has conducted more than 27 studies on systemic issues attracting persistent complaints.
Mr. Qureshi stated that the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s institution is a poorman’s court. It is not an alternative to the Supreme Judiciary but plays a complementary role. The complainants are not required to hire the services of advocates nor they have to face lengthy legal processes. Incidence of complaints was 7,812 in 1983. It has risen to 161,765 upto 27 December 2022 showing an increase of more than 20 times during the current year alone. Total disposal of complaints stood at 153,475 reflecting an impressive disposal rate of 95% while 5% are in the pipeline.
Highlighting the impact of ICT on the work of the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s institution in Pakistan, Mr. Qureshi added that that the scope and magnitude of itswork has increased manifolds over the last forty years. The Wafaqi Mohtasib’s Secretariat was able to successfully cope with these increasing demands through the use of latest IT tools and upgrading the grievance redressal mechanism on regular basis. A number of modules were developed by the IT Wing internally to cater to the specific requirements of the complainants as well as the federal agencies in maintaining a transparent and credible interface with them.
He added that the Complaint Management Information System (CMIS) employed the latest technology and modern equipment and has many special features which introduce speed and efficiency in the work of the Federal Ombudsman’s Office. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Management System remained connected with the complainant as well as the Agency from day one till the disposal of the complaint. Under the Integrated Complaint Resolution (ICR) mechanism, the complaint portals of 181 Federal agencies have been linked with Mohtasib’sCMIS whereby complaints which remain unresolved at Agency level beyond 30 days were automatically transferred to the Ombudsman’s portal for further action.
Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman), Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi offered that Pakistan remained ready to share its expertise and best practices in redressing the public grievance with other members of the AOA. He hoped that the AOA, being a major non-political professional body representing more than two-thirds population of the world, offers immense scope for mutual cooperation in promoting the ultimate goal of good governance, rule of law, justice and fair play in the Asian region and beyond.

The Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi presided over the 23^rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Asian Ombudsman Association on 18 October 2022 at Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan. The meeting was attended by the heads of the respective institutions and representatives of Azerbaijan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Japan and Turkey.

The Board of Directors meeting was held after a gap of two years  due to COVID-19 pandemic which has brought in its wake border closures, lockdown and travel restrictions. The AOA membership was no exception and the Association too remained in a slowdown mode. Nevertheless, the Permanent Secretariat of AOA in Islamabad during the difficult years continued with the implementation of the decisions taken by the earlier  meeting of the Board.

          While presenting the report on the activities of the Association, its President Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi gave a broad overview of the Association’s continued growth into a mature, dynamic and progressive platform of the ombudsman fraternity in the region. He added that the steps taken by the Association over the past 26 years in pursuit of its goals and objective offered a great promise for its future. The meeting deliberated on various important items on its agenda impacting directly the future course of the Association. These items related to the upgrading of the AOA Resource Centre, updating e-Profile Directory of AOA members, alumni members, regular subscription to the monthly Newsletter, developing AOA calendar of activities for 2022-2023 and expanding the membership of the Association. It also reviewed progress on the on-going activities and considered action plan for election of the members/office bearers of the AOA next year. 

          The Asian Ombudsman Association is a major non-political, independent, democratic and professional body of international character, representing more than two third of the world population from 25 major countries in the Asian continent. Its Board of Directors meet every year and the General Assembly meets every two years. Before the conclusion of the meeting, a short documentary prepared by the AOA Secretariat titled “Promoting Ombudsmanship in Asia and Beyond” was shown which highlighted the potential of the ombudsman fraternity and the role that it can play in realizing the ultimate goal of good governance, rule of law and protection of human rights.

          Mr. Qureshi also attended the meetings of the General Assembly of the OIC Ombudsman Association (OICOA) which was held soon after the Board of Directors meeting of the Asian Ombudsman Association. The meeting reviewed progress on various ongoing activities and considered plans for its growth into an effective ombuds forum in the Islamic world. Currently, 33 ombuds institutions are member of the OICOA. Efforts are in hand to expand its membership with a view to enhancing its representative character and promoting cooperation between these institutions.

The Turkish World Women’s Platform granted the Ombudsperson of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva with the “Golden Woman” Award for her multi-faceted and effective activities in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms in the country, for her continuous work in the international arena in restoring the violated rights of our refugees and IDPs, the war-affected civilian population, including for her role in organizing the effective activities of the Institution.

Akyikatchy A. Abdrakhmatova received several complaints about the increase in the amount of violence and “school racketeering” and the inaction of law enforcement officers in the Naryn region. In this connection, the regional office of the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic in the Naryn region, together with the League of Defenders of the Rights of the Child Public Foundation, monitored compliance with the guarantees of safety and rights of students in nine educational institutions in the city of Naryn. As part of the monitoring, a survey was conducted among 700 students of various age categories, and meetings were held with juvenile inspectors, social educators, parents and public organizations to discuss the issue of observing children’s rights while ensuring public safety and law and order. The results of the monitoring with recommendations for improving the system of protecting children from violence and extortion in schools will be reflected in the report and presented to the public and decision makers. The monitoring of the safety of schoolchildren in Naryn was carried out with the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Kyrgyzstan.

In November 2022, employees of the Gender and Equality Departments of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia held a series of seminars on gender equality and sexual harassment for local self-government representatives in the Kvemo Kartli municipalities.

The essence of gender, its basic concepts, widespread stereotypes and importance of equal opportunities, as well as the availability of services for victims of violence and the need for support measures were discussed at the meetings.

The participants in the discussion emphasized the role of local self-government in the protection of human rights and, in particular, the importance of the activities of Gender Equality Councils operating in municipal administrations in terms of prevention of violence.

Other topics of discussion were sexual harassment and prevention mechanisms; forms of sexual harassment, indicators and standard of proof. The participants received information about the practice of the Public Defender’s Office relating to the cases of sexual harassment and the online courses available on the official website of the Public Defender.

The seminars organized by the Public Defender’s Kvemo Kartli Office were attended by management representatives of the municipalities of Tetritskaro, Dmanisi, Bolnisi, Tsalka, Rustavi, Marneuli and Gardabani, members of the Gender Equality Councils and decision-makers.

The special report of the Public Defender of Georgia assesses in detail the performance of tasks assigned to the state agencies by the Resolution of the Parliament of Georgia of July 12, 2021 based on the 2020 Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia.

The Public Defender addressed state agencies and local self-government bodies with 360 recommendations in the 2020 parliamentary report. The Parliament of Georgia endorsed approximately 82% of the mentioned recommendations and issued 333 tasks to ensure their implementation.

The Parliament did not reflect in the resolution the 30 recommendations of the 2020 parliamentary report of the Public Defender. As a trend, it can be said that the subjects of the recommendations of the Public Defender, which the Parliament did not reflect in its resolutions in 2019, 2020, and 2021, are similar. In particular, the purpose of the main part of these recommendations was to ensure education on issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights, to protect schoolchildren from religious indoctrination, etc.

The Public Defender’s special report assesses 15.8% of the tasks as fulfilled, 19.9% ​​as partially fulfilled and 61.3% as unfulfilled. It should be noted that 3% of the tasks have not been subject to evaluation for objective reasons. The Public Defender considers that despite the fact that the Parliament of Georgia reflected the majority of the Public Defender’s recommendations in the resolution and made it mandatory for state agencies to implement them, the state of the recommendations is unsatisfactory.

The Parliament of Georgia adopts a resolution based on the annual report of the Public Defender of Georgia each year. With the mentioned act, the Parliament evaluates the report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the protection of human rights and freedoms in the country and gives tasks to state agencies to implement the recommendations laid down in the Public Defender’s report. The assignment of tasks by the Parliament brings the implementation of the recommendations issued by the Public Defender under parliamentary supervision. The performance of the Parliament’s tasks by the agencies is monitored by the Parliamentary Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee.

In accordance with Article 6, paragraph 4, sub-paragraph “b” of the Statute of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia shall examine the fulfillment of the mentioned tasks by the addressees and conduct the committee discussion, with the participation of the Public Defender and the addressees of recommendations. However, it should be noted that the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee did not hold the committee discussion for the mentioned purpose.

On November 25, 2022, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Feruza Eshmatova took part in the Expanded Dialogue in Central Asia on the topic: “Combating violence: Women and girls at risk. Eliminate the causes and provide assistance. Strengthening access to justice”. This hybrid dialogue was organized by the Ombudsman of the Republic of Kazakhstan and UN Women of Kazakhstan. The event was also attended by representatives of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the State Committee for Family and Women Affairs and the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations.

It was also attended by the ombudsmen of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives of relevant ministries and departments, public organizations and international experts.

The event noted that, according to the World Health Organization, every third woman experiences harassment and violence during her life. This is a sign that the problem of violence against women is global.

The analysis shows that violence against women and girls is also widespread in Central Asia. To date, some Central Asian countries have tightened legislation against domestic violence and discrimination against women, while others have adopted national strategies. However, the factors hindering their implementation, in particular, insufficient qualifications of law enforcement officers, lack of financial resources, lack of specialized services for victims of violence, are especially pronounced in remote areas.

At the international level, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include the issues of ensuring gender equality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and this global issue requires an integrated approach.

Measures to prevent domestic violence must address the root causes and combine victim support with preventive and legal measures.

Participants of the extended dialogue shared their experience, analyzed the causes of violence and gave their suggestions for the development of specific tools to support women victims of domestic violence.

On November 25, 2022, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Feruza Eshmatova took part in the Expanded Dialogue in Central Asia on the topic: “Combating violence: Women and girls at risk. Eliminate the causes and provide assistance. Strengthening access to justice”. This hybrid dialogue was organized by the Ombudsman of the Republic of Kazakhstan and UN Women of Kazakhstan. The event was also attended by representatives of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the State Committee for Family and Women Affairs and the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations.

It was also attended by the ombudsmen of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives of relevant ministries and departments, public organizations and international experts.

The event noted that, according to the World Health Organization, every third woman experiences harassment and violence during her life. This is a sign that the problem of violence against women is global.

The analysis shows that violence against women and girls is also widespread in Central Asia. To date, some Central Asian countries have tightened legislation against domestic violence and discrimination against women, while others have adopted national strategies. However, the factors hindering their implementation, in particular, insufficient qualifications of law enforcement officers, lack of financial resources, lack of specialized services for victims of violence, are especially pronounced in remote areas.

At the international level, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include the issues of ensuring gender equality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and this global issue requires an integrated approach.

Measures to prevent domestic violence must address the root causes and combine victim support with preventive and legal measures.

Participants of the extended dialogue shared their experience, analyzed the causes of violence and gave their suggestions for the development of specific tools to support women victims of domestic violence.