• Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman) opens AOA Webinar on “Building Public Awareness – An Essential Feature of Ombudsmanship”.
• Calls for greater sharing of experiences and best practices amongst the Ombudsman Institutions in the Asian Region.

The Wafaqi Mohtasib, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi opened an International Webinar on “Building Public Awareness: An Essential Feature of Ombudsmanship” in Islamabad on May 15, 2024. The Webinar was held from the platform of Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA), whose permanent Secretariat is housed within the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat at Islamabad. Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi is the current President of the Asian Ombudsman Association, which is a 47-member strong non-political and professional body of ombudsman institutions in the Asian region.

Addressing the participants, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi said that the institution of Wafaqi Mohtasib Pakistan was striving to expand its outreach and accessibility with a view to facilitating dispensation of administrative justice to the general public closer to their homes. He said that greater public awareness is the key to a successful ombuds institution and a robust awareness campaign is pursued to educate the general public about the availability of this important forum, particularly in the remote and far-flung areas for speedy redressal of their complaints. Mr. Qureshi added that the United Nations Resolutions and other international instruments on ombudsmanship call upon the member States to develop and conduct outreach activities at the national level in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders in order to spread the word about the mandate and scope of work of this Office for the benefit of the common man.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who addressed the Webinar as a guest speaker, gave a professional perspective of awareness raising and various options for reaching out to those facing administrative excesses and maladministration on the part of public sector bodies. He said that greater physical and IT footprints of ombudsman institutions would be highly desirable and enhance the accessibility of this institution to the general public. He urged the media fraternity to help publicize the goals of ombudsmanship for creating an informed citizenry, fully conversant with their rights and obligations.  The Webinar was attended by a large number of participants representing ombudsman institutions of Azerbaijan, Benin, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Tatarstan, Thailand, Turkiye, Provincial Ombudsman institutions and the Regional Offices of the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat in the country.