June 19, 2026

2026 International Ombudsman Seminar to Include Two Organizational Ombuds

Hans Kohler and Mary Rowe are among the speakers for Seminário Internacional de Ouvidorias - 2026 taking place next week. The online event is aimed at Classical Ombuds and features 14 senior public servants, Ombuds, and auditors from Brazilian federal and local ministries. Kohler, a Regional Ombuds with the International Organization for Migration in Kenya and Associate Editor of the Journal of IOA, and Rowe, the former inaugural Ombuds for MIT, will join a panel on the topic of "Effective Ombudsman Offices: Challenges and Pathways to Strengthen Structure, Processes, and Culture." 

Here is the full description of their session: 
The efficiency of ombudsman offices should not be thought of based on a given ideal model, but as an institutional capacity that needs to be built and strengthened over time. In a context where many ombudsman offices still operate with precarious structures, small teams, and poorly consolidated processes, the challenge is not only to recognize weaknesses, but to understand how to progressively and consistently develop the essential elements of structure, processes, and culture that make listening qualified, action reliable, and the response more aligned with the needs of the citizen. Rather than pointing out deficiencies, the panel seeks to reflect on concrete ways to strengthen ombudsman offices based on accumulated experience, institutional learning, and the construction of real capacities. 
The event is set for June 23-25, 2026, and will be available on YouTube. (Seminário Internacional de Ouvidorias.) 

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