The Federal Ombudsman Presides Over the Meeting of Asian Ombudsman Association at Baku, Azerbaijan – Also Attends the General Assembly Meeting of The Association
The Hon’ble Federal Ombudsman, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, in his capacity as President of the Asian Ombudsman Association, presided over the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) on 18th October, 2022 at Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan. The meeting was attended, among others, by the heads of the respective institutions of Azerbaijan, China, Japan, Turkiye, Iran, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Republic of Korea. Paying rich tributes to his predecessor for promoting the cause of Ombudsman ship, the Federal Ombudsman expressed his desire to work very closely with the Board Members to benefit from each other’sexperience; and charting the future course of the AOA. Expressing his gratitude to all those members who have guided the work of the Association as a member of the Board in 2019, he duly acknowledged their contribution in carrying forward the Association’s objectives despite the COVID-19 hiatus. He was also pleased to recall that the AOA permanent Secretariat at Islamabad continued to work and implement the decisions of the Board during these difficult years. The Board of Directors of the AOA which is a major non-political, independent and professional body of international character representing more than 2/3rd of the world population from 25 major countries in the Asian Continent considered, inter alia, the report of the AOA for the year 2019-21 on the activities of the Association /Audited Financial Statement and recommended for placing these before the General Assembly for ratification. The Board also recommended the request of the Office of ULSAN Metropolitan Government Civil Ombudsman Committee of Republic of Korea for full membership for approval by the General Assembly. The Board also took a number of decisions aimed at further strengthening the Association and expansion of the Association’s activities. The Board expressed satisfaction over the leadership of the Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan in carrying forward the objectives of the Association. The Hon’ble Federal Ombudsman also availed the opportunity to apprise the AOA Board Members of the activities of his Office in Pakistan aimed at dispensation of inexpensive administrative justice to the people of Pakistan. Informing the participants that his Office has been able to dispose of more than 1.8 million complaints since its inception in 1983, out of which 108,200 complaints have been disposed of since January, 2022 alone, he enunciated the legal and operational framework of his Office and various initiatives taken for providing administrative justice to the people at their doorstep, carrying out research studies on systemic issues to address the root causes of persistent complaints, preparation of 27 such reports and other initiatives aimed at facilitating the Prisoners, Street Children and Overseas Pakistanis. He also mentioned the recent projects focusing on Informal Resolution of Disputes, Inspection of various Government Agencies to see their working and to make recommendations for improvement in service delivery as also establishment of the One Window Facilitation Desks at all International Airports in Pakistan to facilitate the Overseas Pakistanis and their families travelling to and from Pakistan. The Board Members greatly appreciated the functioning of the Office of the Federal Ombudsman and evinced keen interest in replicating the models adopted by his Office to facilitate the citizens of Pakistan. (M. Javed Chaudhary) Director (Media)