CCAC Delegation attended the Board of Directors' Meeting and the 9th Asian Ombudsman Association Conference
Category: Exchange and Training Release method: Press Releases
Release:2005/12/07
The annual Board of Directors' Meeting of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) was held in Hong Kong on 28 November. As a member of the Board, Cheong U, the Commissioner Against Corruption of Macao, attended the meeting. The other board members came from Pakistan (President), Hong Kong (Secretary), Korea (Treasurer), China, Japan, Malaysia and Iran. The agenda posted and the resolutions adopted during the meeting showed a high level of professionalism and provided a strong base to further develop the association and promote participation of members.
The 9th AOA Conference with the theme of "Evolving Ombudsman Office" took place on 29 and 30 November. Hosted by the Office of The Ombudsman Hong Kong, 77 delegates from 24 countries attended the conference. Plenary discussion topics included "Relationship with Government and Other Stakeholders", "Promoting Public Awareness", "Measuring Effectiveness of Ombudsman Offices", "Freedom of Information and Protected Disclosure Legislation", "Specialty and Industry Ombudsmen" and "Handling Complaints from Prisoners". The Commissioner, Cheong U, was invited to speak on the topic of "Promoting Public Awareness", introducing the Commission's experiences in promoting the Ombudsman's functions to the public. The presentation was well received by the attendants. The conference was considered to be successful, with delegations of different countries having greatly benefited from it.
The general assembly was held on 1 December. Besides the board members, delegations from Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand also joined the assembly. The admission of two new members, the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam and the Kyrgyz Republic, was announced during the assembly. Furthermore, it was suggested that members co-operate with the academic institutions in their own regions in the coming year to initiate a comparative study of the ombudsman system and operations.
