International activities reform process; also existing laws regarding the ombudsman institution are being amended. During its visit at the AOB, the delegation gathered valuable ideas and impulses for the reform process. Group of European students visit AOB At the end of April 2014, a study tour through Europe brought 30 students from the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) to Vienna, where they visited the UN and the AOB. Ombudsman Günther Kräuter informed them about the historical development, the responsibilities and the organisational structure of the AOB, as well as its new duties as the national human rights institution. Students from Ukraine in Vienna In May, Ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauer welcomed a student group from the Ukraine, which visited the AOB in order to gather information about the mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights that have been established in Austria. Ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauer spoke with the students - among other topics - about the role of the AOB and the influence of the ombudsman institution on legislation, among other topics. Slovenian Ombudswoman visits AOB Also in May 2014, Ombudswoman Gertrude Brinek received her Slovenian colleague, Ombudswoman Vlasta Nussdorfer, in Vienna. The focus of the discussions was on the sharing of experience with regard to the international cooperation of the two ombudsman institutions with institutions such as the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), the South-East Europe NPM Network (SEE NPM Network) and the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC). The Slovenian delegation showed great interest in the close cooperation of the Austrian Ombudsman Board with Austria’s public broadcaster ORF and the weekly television programme BürgerAnwalt. Symposium on complaint system in China Around 70 participants came to Vienna in mid-June for a symposium about the complaint system in China. During the two-day event, experts from the scientific community and politics spoke about topics such as ombudsman institutions from a comparative law perspective, state-run complaint portals on the Internet and the petition systems in Austria and China. In his opening speech, Ombudsman Günther Kräuter provided information about the function of the AOB as the contact partner for complaints by citizens and responded to questions about the content of focal points for the Austrian Ombudsman Board. University professor Gerd Kaminski, the organiser of the event and head of the Boltzmann Institute for Research on China and Southeast Asia, spoke about the development and the future of the Chinese complaint system “Xinfang” and emphasised that the Austrian AOB model could serve as a role model for similar institutions in China. Korea Anti-Corruption Commission in Vienna In late August, Ombudsman Günther Kräuter received a 26-person delegation from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of Korea (ACRC) who had come to share ideas and experiences with the AOB. The 26

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