IOI Board of Directors holds annual meeting in Namibia

September 25, 2015

Ombudsman Board member Günther Kräuter, who simultaneously holds the position of the IOI Secretary General and Ulrike Grieshofer, the Head of the General Secretariat, jointly conducted the Board of Directors Meeting. The Board addressed developments and achievements made in the past membership year and discussed projects and priorities for the year to come.

The General Secretariat of the IOI and its staff members thereby received much credit and recognition for their extensive preparatory work. The Board highly appreciated the substantive preparation of the conference which ensured a smooth running of the event.

Also, the Board of directors appointed the Head of the General Secretariat, Ulrike Grieshofer, as Executive Director of the IOI, acknowledging her tireless efforts of managing the day to day business of the organisation. 

In Namibia, the IOI Board welcomed ten new members from the African, the Asian and the Caribbean and Latin American Region to its community; five of which were accepted as voting-members of the IOI.

The Board furthermore confirmed the Office of the Ombudsman of Thailand as the host of the 11th IOI World Conference, which will be held in Bangkok in November 2016. Despite some concern about the current political situation in Thailand, the Board reiterated its full support for the Office of the Ombudsman as it is seen as a fundamental factor to rebuild democracy.

Another focus of this year’s Board meeting were training initiatives for the upcoming membership year as well as a workshop to discuss the precariousness Ombudsmen are facing in their daily duties, such as reprisals or even threats. The IOI is zealous to offer information and strategy of actions in these difficult circumstances and tries to establish various ways for the IOI to support colleagues facing such times of crisis.