The 3^rd Workshop under the Provincial Ombudsman Sindh’s Ambassador Programme was held at Salim Habib University, Karachi, on December 11, 2024 to instill the concept of civic responsibilities and advocacy skills in the youth of Sindh by carrying out the community outreach of ombudsman mandate to student community and general public. The workshop, initiated through the Regional subsidy of International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), focused on the role of the Provincial Ombudsman Office in providing administrative justice to the public, and was chaired by the Honourable Ombudsman of Sindh, Mr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, who was welcomed in Salim Habib University by Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Syed Irfan Hyder, and other members of the management of the university including Mr. Tariq Amin, Member Board of Governors and Registrar Dr. Muhammad Hussain Habib.

In his speech at a packed Salim Habib University Auditorium, Honourable Ombudsman Sindh, congratulated the management and for establishing such an state of the art university and appreciated the role of the university to promote and produce skillful youth. The Honourable Ombudsman emphasized that almost 16 million children are out of schools and collective efforts are required to bring them to school. He added that office of Ombudsman receiving about 8000 complaints in average per annum though population of the province is above than 50 million and approximately the majority of the residents have complaints against government departments. The Ombudsman emphasized that he has vision to make the institute of Ombudsman a proactive department likewise Ombudsman office in Europe.

The objective of the ambassador programme is to disseminate our message through them to general public so that people should know they have some forum to address their grievances expeditiously free of cost. He informed that his office has already selected 20 Ambassadors
(10 each) from the Hamdard and Sindh Madressatul Islam Universities, who have been disseminating the message of the Institute through social media and community meetings. He also underlined how important it is for students to educate the society about resilience, their legal rights and the channels through which they may address issues.

The Ombudsman Sindh also highlighted that students selected as Ambassadors will bridge the gap between community and the Ombudsman office by promoting accountability, openness, and good governance.

Vice Chancellor, Salim Habib University, while speaking on the occasion, commended this initiative to connect with citizens and students, and emphasized the need to serve the community by spreading knowledge and awareness.

Ms. Rehana G. Ali Memon, Advisor and Masood Ishrat Registrar, Secretariat Provincial Ombudsman Sindh also spoke on the concept of the Brand Ambassador Program and Mohtasib operations respectively at the event, which was also attended by advisors and consultants from the Ombudsman Office.

The event concluded with a Q&A session during which Honourable Ombudsman Sindh addressed students’ queries.