International activities participation at the annual meeting of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC of NHRIs) in Geneva to conduct successful talks regarding a cooperation agreement between the ICC and the IOI; these were the first steps toward closer cooperation between these two globally active organisations. A well-attended round table at the World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. marked the deepening cooperation with the World Bank. The objective of this event was to inform the employees of the World Bank about the activities of ombudsman institutions and to make them aware of the importance of these institutions as a key element in the democratic development of nations governed by the rule of law. Furthermore, the IOI organised two online seminars in close cooperation with the World Bank on the topic of “Open Government Partnership” in English and Spanish, which were very favourably received by the international ombudsman community. Cooperation with the World Bank During the meeting of the Board of Directors, the groundwork was also laid for interesting initiatives in the area of training and continuing education. For example, the cooperation with the Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA), which has been successfully implemented since 2013, will be continued in 2015. Training on the topic of “Dealing with difficult complainants” will take place for the Asian members of the IOI in close cooperation with the ombudsman institution in Thailand. The successful anti-corruption training, which was organised in 2013 by the IOI in cooperation with the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) 2013 in Vienna, will be offered in May 2015 in the Caribbean and tailored to the requirements of the members in that region. European members can take advantage of a training focused on NPM/OPCAT, which was developed in close cooperation with the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT); the ombudsman institution in Latvia will invite members to attend this training in June 2015. Additionally, there are plans to offer the renowned training developed at the Queen Margaret University in Scotland on the topic of investigative proceedings in the area of public administration for Spanish-speaking members of the IOI; the training is set to take place in Latin America. Training and continuing education for IOI members To mark its 20th anniversary, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of Korea (ACRC) invited members to the Asian Global Ombudsman Conference in Seoul. More than 200 Korean and international guests took part in the conference. The IOI was represented by Secretary General Günther Kräuter, who was one of the speakers and also participated as the moderator of a panel discussion. The topic of the conference was future development and networking of ombudsman institutions. The participants addressed the future challenges that ombudsman institutions must face worldwide and discussed the role of new technologies in their work, among other topics. Asian Ombudsman Conference in Korea 19