Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani participated in the International Symposium of Ombudsmen, which was held in Baku on June 18, 2025, organized by the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva. The theme of the symposium was “Strengthening the Rule of Law: The Role of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions”.

At the high-level meeting, ombudsmen from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, members of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), discussed the issues of realizing constitutional rights and ensuring equal rights for all; they also discussed the challenges and best practices of international cooperation and protection of refugee rights.

The Provincial Ombudsman Sindh. Mr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, inaugurated one-of-its-kind Climate & Disaster Justice Unit (CDJU), a pioneering initiative to ensure expeditious and justifiable redressal of complaints stemming from climate-related and man-made disasters.

The unit will be a fast-paced mechanism resolving issues of delay, corruption, or neglect in relief, rehabilitation, and public service delivery. It will be working on safeguarding vulnerable groups, inclusive governance, and coordination with UN agencies, NGOs, and civil society

This initiative complements the actions already been taken for advocacy for human dignity, equity, and the rule of law, solidifying the institution as an equitable, accessible, and people-centered watchdog, particularly in a region being battered more and more by climate uncertainty.

“In the event of a disaster, justice delayed is not just justice denied, it’s denial of dignity. The CDJU brings justice to the frontlines of climate crisis” Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Ombudsman Sindh.

On 5 May 2025, Chief Ombudsman of Turkiye and President of OICOA Mr. Mehmet Akarca received the Ombudsman of Turkmenistan Ms. Yazdursun Gurbannazarova. The meeting, organized within the scope of the Turkmenistan Ombudsman Institution’s study visit to protect and monitor children’s rights in cooperation with UNICEF, was also attended by Ms. Fatma Benli Yalçın, Ombudsman Responsible for Children’s Rights.

In his remarks, Chief Ombudsman Mr. Mehmet Akarca emphasized that Ombudsman Institutions play a key role in protecting human rights, upholding the rule of law, promoting good governance in administrations, and fostering a culture of seeking legal remedies.

The Commissioner for Human Rights, Sabina Aliyeva, participated at the next meeting of the Association of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) of Turkic States (TURKOMB), which was held online.

At the meeting was also joined by ombudspersons, heads, and representatives of NHRIs of Türkiye, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan said that the Association became an effective platform for exchanging experiences in the field of human rights.

The Ombudsman emphasized the importance of developing cooperation among Turkic states, continuing close collaboration among ombuds institutions in this framework, and sharing practices in the human rights area.

Sabina Aliyeva brought to the attention the fact that within the framework of the TURKOMB, the Azerbaijan Ombudsman Institution organized various gatherings on current topics during the past period, which significantly contribute to the strengthening of cooperation among member states of the Association and suggested sustaining such cooperation.

During the event, the ombudspersons and NHRIs of the other TURKOMB member states made speeches about their activities over the past timeframe; the present action plan was discussed and recommendations sounded.

Sukkur, January 21, 2025 – Ten students from Sukkur IBA University have been selected as Ambassadors for Ombudsman Sindh as part of the Ambassador Program. Earlier Ten students each from Hamdard University, Sindh Madressatul Islam University and Salim Habib University were selected. The selected students aimed at fostering civic responsibility, promoting accountability and support the Ombudsman’s mission.

Ms. Rehana G. Ali Memon, Advisor to the Provincial Ombudsman Sindh, explained that the program engages students across universities in Sindh to raise awareness of the Ombudsman Office’s role in promoting good governance, transparency, and human rights. These ambassadors will serve as a bridge between the Ombudsman and the public, helping spread the message through outreach activities and social media.

Mr. Masood Ishrat, Registrar of the Ombudsman Sindh, provided an overview of the mandate of the office and complaint processes during the session followed by a Q&A session to address students’ queries.

Prof. Dr. Syed Mir Muhammad Shah, Pro Vice Chancellor of Sukkur IBA University, praised the program for encouraging youth participation in civic duties, while Prof. Dr. Asif Ahmed Shaikh, Vice Chancellor, while talking to team of Ombudsman Office highlighted the initiative as an important step in strengthening ties between Sukkur IBA University and the Ombudsman Sindh Office, focused on promoting integrity and accountability in governance across Sindh.

On 28 February 2024, the Public Defender addressed the director of one of the public schools of the Khelvachauri municipality with a general proposal relating to the case of incitement to discrimination on the basis of sex/gender and called on him to not allow discriminatory treatment on the basis of sex or other grounds at school and to implement a policy of equality, and in relation to the school uniform, to ensure students’ freedom of choice.

As the case study made it clear, according to the strict instructions of the school director, schoolgirls had to wear skirts and white blouses at school. However, the administration has not issued any directive regarding the school uniform, and the fact that schoolgirls are allowed to wear pants only during the winter is the personal decision of the school director.

The school failed to present a rational argumentation to the Public Defender that would justify the restrictions on the choice of girls and the ban on wearing pants.

Given the legal framework, any issue related to clothing must adhere to the principle of non-discrimination. Therefore, it is not allowed for the school to arbitrarily define the rules of the students’ clothing and forbid girls from wearing pants.

In the general proposal, the Public Defender also discussed the general challenges relating to gender equality, the importance of considering the issues related to the schoolchildren’s rights through the prism of equality, and the corresponding obligations of the school.

In the framework of the implementationof the 2024 Action Plan for Awareness Raising to Increase the Effectiveness of Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and Freedoms (Action Plan),the Ombudsman Office organized an awareness-raising event on the topic of the “Ombudsman’s National Preventive Activity.”

During her opening speech, Ombudsman Sabina Aliyeva provided detailed information about the activities under the NPM mandate. Then, the staff of the Office made PPT presentations.

For the further information see the linkhttps://bit.ly/3VhHXJ1

Telephone hotline On the protection of families with children established in Kazan.

In this year first hotline was dedicated to the Year of the Family, announced in Russia, and was dedicated to the protection of families with children,

Questions from the citizens come in a variety of ways, but each specialist of the specialized ministries and departments, the Notarial and Lawyer’s Chambers of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Department of the Social Foundation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Tatarstan and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Tatarstan gives an answer.

During the hotline, Tatarstan residents received questions related to placement in pre-school and general education institutions, registration of disability insurance pension, rehabilitation, etc.

In a solemn ceremony held at Governor House in Karachi, Governor Sindh Mr. Muhammad Kamran Khan Tessori administered the Oath of Provincial Ombudsman Sindh to Mr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput. The event was attended by Provincial Secretaries, Senior Government Officials, and dignitaries from the city. He was congratulated by Governor Sindh on assuming the responsibilities of Ombudsman Sindh.

The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, announced the completion of a direct investigation into the effectiveness of the 1823 service in handling complaints and enquiries, and made
13 recommendations for improvement to the Efficiency Office (“EO”).

Established more than 20 years ago, 1823 under the EO provides a one-stop service round the clock to answer public enquiries about the services of 23 participating departments, and receive complaints about any area of Government services.

The Office of The Ombudsman’s investigation reveals that over the past six years, the service handled an average of around 1.95 million enquiries annually.  In the case of telephone enquiries, 1823 achieved first-call resolutions of issues 99 per cent of the time, in line with its aim of providing a one-stop enquiry service.  Regarding complaint handling, the Office finds that 1823’s existing mechanism cannot effectively resolve cross-departmental complaints and complaints involving unclear delineation of responsibilities, nor can it ensure direct communication and collaboration among departments.

The Office also identifies room for improvement in 1823’s handling of calls, co-operation arrangements with participating departments, daily operations and use of data.

Ms Chiu said, “Most complaints which are cross-departmental and involving unclear delineation of responsibilities are about district problems directly related to people’s livelihood.  Simply relying on 1823’s existing escalation mechanism does not ensure that these complaints are properly handled. Under the Government’s proposals to improve district governance, the Task Force on District Governance (“TFDG”), led by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, has been set up to steer and co-ordinate cross-departmental district issues.  The District Officers of the Home Affairs Department are representatives of the Government at the district level who co-ordinate departments’ services and assist in problem solving locally.  1823 should escalate cases about recurring district problems with unclear delineation of responsibilities to the District Officers or the TFDG in a systematic and timely manner with a view to resolving these problems more effectively through the high-level structure of the Government.”

The Office’s recommendations for improvement to EO include:

• Stringently enforce the requirement that departments reply within a specified time limit with reasons if they consider a case outside their purview or should be handled by another department; if departments fail to reply after the deadline, 1823 can activate the escalation mechanism outright or request departments to review the case under the mechanism, so as to ensure timely handling of complaints;

• Establish a mechanism and draw up guidelines to standardise and regularise the procedures for escalating cases about recurring district problems with unclear delineation of responsibilities to the District Officers or the TFDG in a systematic, proper and timely manner;

• Request participating departments to submit forecast plans of new services or arrangements on a regular basis for preparation accordingly, and remind departments from time to time of the importance of updating the knowledge base;

• Proactively monitor and conduct timely review of the newly upgraded telephone system with a view to further enhancing 1823’s call answering rate, and expand the application of artificial intelligence on enquiry handling;

• Further consolidate the data collected from enquiries and complaints handled by 1823 to facilitate bureaux/departments capturing the data required and conduct comprehensive analyses, with a view to improving Government services; and

• Conduct systematic analyses of cross-departmental cases and consolidate relevant data, submit reports to the TFDG from time to time to facilitate the Government’s resolution of cross-departmental district issues and formulation of long-term strategies to enhance district administration.

 EO has accepted the improvement recommendations made by the Office.

The full investigation report is available on the website of the Office of The Ombudsman for public information.