We are pleased to announce that on November 15, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia, for the first time in the history of the Public Defender’s Office, has started fulfilling the duties of a member of the Board of Directors of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). The Public Defender’s Office will represent the European region in the Board. The Office was elected a member of the European region in 2019. The Board of Directors oversees the organization's activities and makes decisions about its future activities.

Membership of the IOI Board of Directors is a great honor for the Public Defender of Georgia. The above reaffirms the importance of the work of the Georgian Public Defender’s Office and recognizes its role at the international and regional levels. The Public Defender of Georgia is represented in the Board together with the ombudsmen of Australia, Greece, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, South Korea and other countries.

The IOI was founded in 1978 in Austria and is the only global organization bringing together more than 170 ombudsman institutions from more than 100 countries. The IOI aims to strengthen ombudsman institutions by advocating their establishment, exchanging information between institutions and funding regional projects and research.

More information about the organization can be found at the following link: https://www.theioi.org/