In the coming week, the National ombudsman, Reinier van Zutphen, will host the 9th biennial conference of the Caribbean Ombudsman Association (CAROA). The theme of the conference is: “The Ombudsman-A Key Actor in the Quest for Good Governance/Challenges facing Modern Day Ombudsman.”
More than 15 countries of the Caribbean region will participate. The conference will run from June 11 through June 13 and takes place at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Bonaire.
During the conference, issues and challenges that the Ombudsmen face in their line of work, are amongst the topics to be addressed. Furthermore, human rights and equal opportunities and treatments will be discussed as well. Naturally, the focus will be on the Caribbean region. In addition, the Queen Margaret University will provide a training on complaint handling. The training has been sponsored by the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI).
CAROA was founded in 2002, and has as one of its main objectives to strengthen the Ombudsman institutions in the Caribbean. This is done by means of strengthening and maintaining the network both within the region as well as abroad. A conference such as this one is a great opportunity for the Ombudsman in our region to share their knowledge and experiences.
