our Collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs now offers a wider range of possibilities Seminars based on cases As part of the collaboration agreement, we also receive a large number of visits to our office. These visits fall into two main categories: short visits, typically of a duration of two to three hours, with a lecture followed by questions and comments, and actual working visits, where a delegation visit Copenhagen to participate in a programme with a practical focus. A working visit typically has a duration of three to five working days. The vis­itors are usually from other ombudsman institutions which have been established already and have perhaps even been functioning for a number of years. It is the same type of working visits we often use when visiting institutions around the world with which we cooperate. We attach great importance to these working visits – whether they take place at our office or in the countries with which we cooperate, for instance Tanzania, The Ombudsman’s international work Since the inception of the Danish Ombudsman institution in 1955, the Danish Parliamentary Ombudsmen and their staff have also worked internationally, among other things to spread the knowledge of the institution, its purpose and its philosophy. Since 2000, the Ombudsman has had a collaboration agreement with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has provided extra means for the activities. The international work takes place at various levels and in various fora: We provide assistance in other countries The Ombudsman and his staff travel around the world for the purpose of informing about the Danish ombudsman concept. A number of these trips are related to actual collaborations with, for instance, other ombudsman institutions or ministries abroad. We receive visitors Every year, we receive delegations and other visitors from abroad. These visits may be proper study visits which we plan here in Copenhagen and in which we very often involve state and municipal authorities. They may also be briefer visits where institutions or other groups of visitors have asked for a presentation of the Ombudsman office and the work of the Ombudsman. The EU The ombudsmen of the EU Member States and other representatives from their offices meet regularly in a network headed by the European Ombudsman. The International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman is a member of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), which is an organisation of ombudsmen from over 140 ombudsman in­stitutions at local, regional and national level. The IOI is a well-known forum for collaboration and exchange of experience among the world’s ombudsmen. 65