The beautiful island of Bali played host to the Southeast Asian Ombudsman Forum (SEAOF) Senior Official Meeting (SOM) from August 10 to 11, 2023. Organized under the Chairmanship of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia, the meeting welcomed delegates from SEAOF three founding members, including the representatives from Indonesia, the host country, Thailand, and the Philippines.

During the 2-day meeting, Deputy General Secretary of the Office of the Ombudsman of Thailand led the Thai delegation in a productive exchange of ideas with SEAOF counterparts to review and discuss the important topics, covering expected deliverables of SEAOF Activities in 2023 and Strategic Work Plan 2024 to implement continued projects.

The meeting included the membership proposals submitted by the Ombudsman of Timor-Leste and the Ombudsman of New Zealand, highlighting a step forward in expanding SEAOF’s collaborative network. Besides, the preparations for the SEAOF Ombudsman-level Meeting in November 2023 also took center stage. The outcomes of this anticipated meeting aim to bring together the Ombudsman institutions and relevant stakeholders both inside and outside the Asian region to drive positive impacts on complaint- handling mechanism and the process of investigation.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Thai delegates engaged in bilateral discussions with senior officials from the Office of the Ombudsman of Indonesia. The discussions focused on a strengthened cooperation between two offices especially the extension to the current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to shape the activities and projects in the years to come.