International activities 4. International activities 4.1 International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) Headquarters in Vienna The International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), with headquarters at the AOB since 2009, links around 160 independent ombudsman institutions in more than 90 countries across the world in the regions Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America and North America. Its members are institutions monitoring public administration on a national, regional and/or local level. New Secretary General. On 1 July 2013, Ombudsman Günther Kräuter took over the role of IOI Secretary General. Mr Kräuter has shown great international commitment in the interest of democracy and the rule of law for expanding and strengthening ombudsman institutions across the world. He took up the role of former IOI Secretary General and Ombudsman Peter Kostelka and thanked him for his unfailing efforts, which made it possible for another international organisation to be brought to Vienna with the headquarters of the IOI General Secretariat in 2009. Board meetings Already in April 2013, the IOI Board of Directors came together in an extraordinary meeting in Vienna to bid farewell to the former Secretary General Kostelka and to allow the newly elected Board members to get to know the General Secretariat and its staff more closely. The regular annual Board meeting took place in New York in September 2013. At these meetings, the Board of the IOI provided a brief overview of its activities and of implemented projects and also welcomed eight ombudsman institutions as new members of the international ombudsman family. The Board outlined its focus for the new membership year of developing a longterm strategic plan for the institute - with the aim of presenting this plan to the IOI General Assembly at the World Conference 2016 in Bangkok. Training in Asia, Europe and Africa In 2013, the IOI again provided interesting training and further education opportunities. The IOI’s co-operation with the Office of the Ombudsman of Thailand and the Asian Ombudsman Association made it possible to take the renowned training on investigative proceedings from Queen Margaret University (QMU), Scotland to Bangkok in April 2013. Especially members of the IOI’s Asian region benefited from this training session for effective complaints handling. An anti-corruption training focusing on transparency and anti-corruption as ideals in public administration took place for the first time in Laxenburg in September 2013 in co-operation with the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA). Renowned OECD and UN experts and guest speakers dealt with explosive topics such as corruption mechanisms, whistle-blowing and (re-)instating integrity. The IOI, with the support of the City of Vienna, was able to award scholarships for this training to financially weaker institutions, thereby ensuring that institutions in Albania, the 52