Islamabad, 27th Apr 2023 : Wafaqi Mohtasib Mr.Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi who is also the current President of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) today held a video meeting with his counterpart Ms. Sariya Saburskaya, Commissioner for Human Rights, Republic of Tatarstan to discuss matters pertaining to the forthcoming annual moot of the Asian Ombudsman fraternity. The upcoming meetings of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly of the Association are being hosted by the Republic of Tatarstan in September this year. In addition to the election to various positions in the Association, the General Assembly will consider steps for strengthening mutual cooperation, promoting professionalism and exchange of best practices among its member institutions.
The Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) is a major non-political, independent, democratic and professional body of international character representing more than two thirds of the world population. Its Board of Directors meets once every year and the General Assembly meetings are held within two calendar years. The last meeting of the AOA Board of Directors was held at Baku (Republic of Azerbaijan) in October 2022 whereas the General Assembly meeting took place in Istanbul (Republic of Turkiye) in 2019. The General Assembly meeting is being held after a gap of three years due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Pakistan has played a vital role in promoting ombudsmanship at the national as well as international levels. Currently, 14 ombudsman institutions are functioning in the country in different areas of competence. These institutions are coordinating their activities to advance good governance and improve service delivery of the agencies from the platform of the Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman (FPO). Besides FPO, Wafaqi Mohtasib (Pakistan) is member of International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and the OIC Ombudsman Association (OICOA). Established in 1996 at Islamabad, the AOA with 44 members from the Asian region is the second largest professional body of ombudsman fraternity. The permanent Secretariat of the AOA is hosted by Pakistan within the Wafaqi Mohtasib Building Complex, Islamabad.
The upcoming meetings of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) will be followed by an international conference in Kazan city which will discuss best practices of ombudsmanship and national perspectives. The AOA meetings will deliberate on measures to promote international cooperation in achieving the ultimate goals of good governance, rule of law and expeditious relief to the aggrieved citizens. In this regard, Wafaqi Mohtasib Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi assured the Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Sariya Saburskaya of his full support and cooperation for the success of the major meetings of the Asian Ombudsman fraternity and the international conference due at Kazan (Tatarstan) in September this year.
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