June 17, 2021

University of Playa Ancha Convocation Given by WHO Regional Ombuds

Francisco Espejo Elgueta, the World Health Organization's Regional Ombudsman for Europe, gave the keynote speech at the inauguration of the University of Playa Ancha's academic year last week. Espejo drew on his own professional and educational experience to describe how he has come to understand conflict and its social/cultural context. 

In addition to his address to students and faculty at the public university in Valparaíso, Chile, Espejo also sat for an interview with the campus newsletter. When he was asked why there were not more Ombuds in Chile, he offered this hypothesis:
Creo que en Chile hemos privilegiado demasiado la resolución legal y administrativa de los conflictos. Es por ello que las otras opciones no están plenamente disponibles. Pero hay cambios. Desde hace relativamente poco, la mediación ha entrado como una opción fuerte. La recientemente creada Defensoría de la Infancia es una ombudsperson. Varias universidades chilenas ya tienen oficina de ombudsperson. Yo pienso que toda organización de más de mil personas debiera ofrecer los servicios de ombudsperson. Con el dinero que se ahorra al evitar algunos casos formales se puede pagar por una oficina, pues habitualmente es muy pequeña y económica.

I think that in Chile we given too much privilege to the legal and administrative resolution of conflicts. This is why the other options are not fully available. But there are changes. Since relatively recently, mediation has emerged as a strong option. The recently created Defensoría de la Infancia is an ombudsperson. Several Chilean universities already have an ombudsperson office. I think that any organization of more than a thousand people should offer the services of ombudsperson. With the money saved by avoiding some formal cases, you can pay for an office, as it is usually very small and inexpensive.

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