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News
on the A.O.A. Board of Directors’ Meeting 2003 One
of the items on the Agenda was the study on how to advance the work of
Ombudsman, to further promote the institution of Ombudsman.
Other matters such as how to strengthen the role of the Association
in Asian and ways to facilitate
cooperation
between members were also thoroughly discussed and views were exchanged. The
Opening Ceremony of the A.O.A. Board of Directors’ Meeting was held on
20th October 2003 at the Conference Room of Macao Cultural
Center. The President of the A.O.A., Mr. Imtiaz Ahmad Sahibzada
(Pakistan), the Commissioner Against Corruption, Mr. Cheong U, the
Secretary of Administration and Justice, Mme. Florinda Chan, delivered
their addresses during the ceremony.
Other local guests who attended the ceremony include the President
of the Court of Final Appeal, Justice Sam Hou Fai, the Public Prosecutor
General, Mr. Ho Chio Meng, the Vice-President of the Legislative Assembly,
Mr. Lau Cheok Va and the President of the Monitoring Committee on
Discipline of the Commission Against Corruption, Mr. Leong Heng Teng. The
Meeting started straight after the Opening Ceremony.
Through out the Meeting, the Board of Directors approved the
setting up of a sub-committee responsible for the study of promoting the
Ombudsmanship. Hong Kong was
elected as the chairman with Macao, Philippines and Korea as members.
This committee will be responsible for promoting the idea of
Ombudsmanship in the member countries of the A.O.A, through grant of
scholarship or financial support to individuals who intend to carry out
specific studies/research work in the field of Ombudsmanship. The
Board of Directors also approved the proposal of strengthening data
exchange between all members, to create links to connect their own website
to the website of the A.O.A. to facilitate communication among each other. All
delegates visited the Macao Museum of Art and were greatly welcomed by the
staff of the Museum. At
night, the Commissioner Against Corruption hosted a Welcoming Dinner at
the Macao Military Club to receive the delegates together with the
presence of a number of Directors of different departments. On
the next morning, the Meeting was continued and was held in the CCAC,
after all members of the Board put their heads together and discussed the
items set on the Agenda, the Board of Directors’ Meeting this year came
to a successful ending. Participants
of the Meeting visited the facilities of the CCAC afterwards, followed by
the Reception Lunch hosted by the Secretary of Administration and Justice,
Mme. Florinda Chan to welcome all delegates. In
the afternoon, all delegates visited the Civic and Municipal Affairs
Bureau and were warmly received by the President of the Administration
Committee, Mr. Lau Si Io and other members of the Committee.
They were introduced the functions of the Bureau, especially the
handling procedures concerning the citizens’ complaints within their
capacity and also the performance pledges they made to the public etc.
The President of the A.O.A., Mr. Sahibzada expressed his gratitude
on behalf of all participants for the reception of the Civic and Municipal
Affairs Bureau. He commenced
that despite the size of Macao, he was greatly impressed by what he has
seen and heard, the people and matters he has come into contact with in
these two days. After this, all participants got to visit some famous
sceneries of Macao. At night,
reception of the Board of
Directors was hosted by the Chief Executive Mr. Ho Hau Wah. Through out the two days meeting program, besides strengthening the communication and contact between all participants, they also gained a better knowledge concerning the administration procedures of the Macao SAR government.
Back
Ground Information of the Asian Ombudsman Association (A.O.A.) In
April 1996, under the initiation of countries like China, Pakistan and Iran, the Preparatory
Conference for the Asian Ombudsman Association was convened in Islamabad,
capital of Pakistan. Delegates from 16 Asian countries and regions
attended the Conference. It
was approved to set up the Asian Ombudsman Association Preparatory
Committee. The Asian
Ombudsman Association was founded on 16th April the same year.
At present, the Association has a membership of 22 members from 18
countries and regions.
A.O.A is the short form for the Asian Ombudsman Association; the
Headquarters of Association was established at Islamabad, Pakistan.
The incumbent President of the Board of Directors is Mr. Imtiaz
Ahmad Sahibzada, Ombudsman of Pakistan; the rest includes Vice-President
(Iran), Secretary (Hong Kong, China), Treasurer (Korea) and 5 other
members, which are China, Macao China, Malaysia, Japan and Philippines. The objective of the A.O.A. is to promote the concepts of Ombudsmanship and to encourage its development in Asia in regions where the institution of Ombudsman is still absent.
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