The 11^th World Conference of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) was held in Thailand's capital Bangkok on November 13-19, 2016. The title of the conference was: Evolution of the Ombudsman’s Institution. The event was attended by Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili, First Deputy Public Defender Natia Katsitadze and a senior specialist of the Department of International Relations and Communications of the Public Defender's Office, Lara Jamarauli.

Within the framework of the conference the Public Defender's delegation attended the General Assembly of the International Ombudsman Institute, where the organization’s report and strategy were discussed and new executive committee was elected. The delegation members took part in the regional meetings of Asian and European ombudsmen, the member of which is the Public Defender of Georgia.

At the conference, Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili, who was invited to the conference as an honorable speaker, talked about the Georgian Public Defender’s multilateral mandate, which in recent years has been further expanded. It should be noted that the Public Defender's Office of Georgia is one of the most powerful institutions among the world ombudsman institutions given its powers and areas of activity. The Public Defender discussed in detail the National Preventive Mechanism, the monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of the anti-discrimination law and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Regional meetings of the ombudsmen from Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia and the Pacific were held within the framework of the World Conference; sessions were organized on various topics, including the practice of ombudsmen with several jurisdictions, innovative ideas in the field of ombudsmen, challenges of several-mandate ombudsmen and assessment methodologies of the ombudsman’s efforts.

The World Conference of the International Ombudsman Institute is the most large-scale event of ombudsmen. It is an important platform for the ombudsmen from all over the world, where the knowledge, experience and a variety of practices are shared. The conference is held once in every 4 years on different continents and is attended by ombudsmen from all countries.

The next World Conference of the International Ombudsman Institute will be hosted by the newly elected President of the organization, Peter Tyndale, in Ireland in 2020.

The International Ombudsman Institute was founded in 1978 as an independent global organization. It brings together more than 170 independent ombudsman institutions in more than 90 countries. The organization aims to assist ombudsmen’s local, regional and national institutions to collaborate with each other. As a rule, these organizations consider complaints of their countries' citizens concerning public administration and protect their rights.

The International Ombudsman Institute has regional offices in Africa, Asia, Australia/New Zealand/Pacific, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin American and North America. The organization has three working languages ​​- English, French and Spanish. The General Secretariat is located in Vienna and is ruled by the Austrian Ombudsman Board.

The Public Defender of Georgia became a member of the International Ombudsman Institute in 2014.

The Georgian delegation attended the event held on November 13-19, 2016, by the financial support of the conference organizers and the EU project "Support to the Public Defender's Office".