The Austrian Ombudsman Board welcomes Ukrainian Delegation

November 23, 2017

Experts from the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) welcomed the Apparatus of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights for an exchange of experiences.

After introducing the structure, responsibilities and (international) activities of the AOB, the functioning of the ex-post control as well as the preventive work for the protection and promotion of human rights was presented in detail. The Ukrainian delegation showed great interest, particularly in complaint handling and how the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) conducts its work.

The discussion focused on questions concerning the protection of personal data in the close cooperation of the AOB with the media, especially regarding the weekly TV-Show called “Bürgeranwalt” (Advocate for the People), which is an exceptional platform for sharing cases of maladministration and human rights issues with the wider public.

The study trip was organized by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights in the framework of a Twinning project to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. The Austrian Ombudsman Board supports this initiative by providing experts for training modules.