IOA to Offer Ombuds Training in Colombia in October 2019

The International Ombudsman Association (IOA) and the Ombuds office team of the University of Los Andes are sponsoring an International Course on Labor Dispute Resolution based on IOA’s Foundations of Organizational Ombudsman Practice course. The course will take place in Cartagena de Indias on October 21-23, 2019. This is the first-ever IOA course offered in Colombia. 

Course Description

Workplace conflict frequently emerges, whether it be in the classroom, public entities, or private companies. When conflicts are poorly managed, they cause declines in productivity and morale, consume time and resources, and trigger stress that can manifest physiologically. Such conflicts can cause long-lasting negative effects and costly legal/administrative fees that commonly result in unsatisfactory outcomes for the parties involved.

This course provides the foundations necessary to enable offering informal conflict resolution mechanisms based on Organizational Ombudsman principles. The course equips you to address a variety of workplace conflicts through the principles of confidentiality, neutrality, independence, and informality. These principles assist an ombudsman in comprehending the conflict and how it affects the parties involved and thus to generate feasible solutions to the problem.

The three-day course focuses on the work that the Organizational Ombudsman does with their visitors, and on their role as a change agent within their organization. Furthermore, the course offers the opportunity to practice the different key ombudsman competencies: neutral and emphatic listening, formulating questions, clarifying problems, and generating alternatives.

Experienced ombudsmen will instruct the course and share best practices on how to establish a conflict resolution office based on the Organizational Ombudsman principles. They will also elaborate on how to evaluate the impact of the office and communicate its achievements.

The course will be taught by José Martínez-Aragón, the Director of the Office of Ombudsman and Mediation Services (OMB) of the World Health Organization, and Francisco Espejo, the United Nations Regional Ombudsman for Latin America and the Caribbean. (IOA Event Info.)

Related posts: University of the Andes Appoints First Ombuds; UN Magazine Introduces New World Health Organization Ombuds; IOA Training Returns to Chile.