Last week I had the privilege of attending the 10th World Conference of the International Ombudsman Institute held at Wellington New Zealand. This ran from Tuesday to Friday and was attended by ombudsman from throughout the world. Most of the ombudsman who attended are either the ombudsman or members of the staff of national ombudsman from many countries, although there were a number who like me, work within an organisation.
It was great to be able to attend a conference in my own city, where the costs of transport were just my bus tickets. But more importantly, this conference which is held every 4 years, enabled me to meet and learn from many very experienced ombudsman and develop contacts throughout the world. The papers were presented were of the highest standard, some by leading academics and others by very well-known ombudsman. In New Zealand we are privileged to have Dame Beverley Wakem, the New Zealand Parliamentary Ombudsman, as the President Of the International Ombudsman Institute. The Institute is based in Vienna, Austria, and organises the international conference every 4 years. It coincides this year with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ombudsman by the New Zealand Parliament in 1962. As a New Zealander I am proud to say that this was the 1st appointment in a common law jurisdiction and the 1st in an English speaking country. I am humbled to be a small part of this important institution, albeit as an observer from ICANN. The conference was opened by the Honourable John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand, an indication of the status of the New Zealand Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade Brown also spoke. They were very supportive of the work of ombudsman in general, emphasising the importance of the neutrality and ability to provide persuasion where needed. We were also privileged to have a former Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Honourable Helen Clark, who is now Administrator of the United Nations Development Program, who is also a big supporter of ombudsmen, and of course the United Nations itself has a big ombudsman program as part of the structure.Over the 4 days of the conference we heard from many other speakers, on issues such as the role of the ombudsman in protecting and promoting human rights, the role of the ombudsman in freedom of information issues with an emphasis on the need for transparency and openness. Both these issues have been discussed in the ICANN context, and in particular at the Toronto meeting recently. ICANN of course has a strong policy in relation to transparency and openness, which I discussed with some of my colleagues. The issue of human rights has of course also been raised in the context of the NCUC Policy Conference: ICANN & Internet Governance: Security & Freedom in a Connected World
Other sessions at the conference were also important in terms of operation of an ombudsman's office. Andre Marin, the Toronto ombudsman told us about the use of social media in the context of enabling outreach in new and exciting ways. At the same session we also heard about the challenges faced by the ombudsman of The Gambia, Alhagie Sowe, in reaching out to villagers outside the main settled areas in his country. His presentation reminded us that not all ombudsman operate in the switched on interconnected world of a 1st world country.
Like many such conferences we were spoiled for choice with the alternative sessions, and I am looking forward to reading the papers which will also be available online shortly. I feel refreshed with new ideas and new approaches, of direct benefit to the work which I do.