The First Vice President of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) Diane Welborn, also Ombudsman of Dayton and Montgomery County of Ohio State in the U.S., visited the Control Yuan (CY) on the morning of October 27, 2015. She also spoke at the CY on the recent trends and challenges facing the IOI.
In her welcome remarks, President Chang noted that the CY has valued international exchange and maintained friendly relations with IOI leaders over the years. Ms. Welborn’s visit exemplifies this positive tradition. Ms. Welborn thanked President Chang for the CY’s invitation. She also conveyed greetings from IOI President John Walters and members of the IOI Board of Directors.
Welborn also noted that the CY has been a long-standing and valuable IOI member institution. Its strong powers and high constitutional level have provided a model for other IOI members, who can learn about the CY through the IOI website and other channels.
After the meeting, Ms. Welborn spoke at the CY Briefing Room about current IOI projects and activities, such as providing regional subsidies for events to discuss issues of common concern. She hoped that projects developed in one region could be transferred to another, thereby spreading the value across a wider membership.
Ms. Welborn also shared an important institutional reform plan resolved during the Directors Meeting in October 2014, which suggests that the Executive Committee of the Board proposed to be selected by an electronic membership vote. The proposal will be put to the 2016 General Assembly held in Bangkok.
As for the challenges facing the IOI, Ms. Welborn pointed out three serious problems: the human rights issue of the refugee crisis, inequality and disenfranchisement among the economically-challenged worldwide since global economic downturn in 2008, and the independence crisis of ombudsman under the worsening polarization of politics in many countries. In tackling the problems, she quoted IOI President Walter’s remarks that the job of the ombudsman is to “turn crocodiles into lizards and learn to whisper to white sharks,” and therefore, requires collective effort by the global members.
Ms. Welborn also spoke briefly about her office. She noted that even though her office does not hold the power of impeachment or levying fines, it, just as the CY, manages to bring justice and fairness to those who lodge complaints to her office.
At the end of the speech, she concluded that the creation of the Office of the Ombudsman is a shining moment in the progress of democracy, and Ombudsman bear the light of justice from land to land and from heart to heart.
More than 50 supervisors and the staff of the CY joined this speech, including President Chang, CY Member Jane Y.W. Chiang, Member Tsai Pei-tsun, Secretary-General Fu Meng-jung and Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Hai-chuan.