International activities Committee of needs-oriented minimum benefit and youth welfare measures in Austria and reported based on its experience as National Preventive Mechanism. ICC / OHCHR As the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), the AOB is also represented on the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC of NHRIs) with a B-status after its re-accreditation in 2011. As a result, the then Ombudsman Peter Kostelka attended the ICC’s annual meeting at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva in May 2013 (OHCHR). ICC / ENNHRI The AOB followed the establishment of a Secretariat for the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) with great interest, which was completed in Brussels at the end of 2012. In April 2013, a talk took place between former Ombudsman Kostelka and the Director of the ENNHRI Secretariat, Debbie Kohner. The main tasks of the Secretariat consist in linking 40 NHRIs in Europe and coordinating co-operations with the ICC, UN, the Council of Europe and OSCE. The AOB also attended ENNHRI meetings in Vienna and Budapest and was able to actively contribute to the strategic planning of the network. SEE NPM Network The AOB in its role as National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) is particularly interested in co-operating with other NPMs and Human Rights Institutions. Since October 2013, the AOB has been a member of the South-East Europe NPM Network (SEE NPM-Network). The purpose of this association of ombudsman institutions from Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, who are entrusted with NPM tasks, is to swap experiences and knowledge and to support each other. OSCE The AOB is actively involved in the OSCE dialogue on the tasks, challenges and further development options of National Human Rights Institutions. A meeting of the OSCE’s Human Rights Dimension took place in Vienna in May 2013, where Ombudswoman Gertrude Brinek reported on the experiences of the AOB stressing the importance of preventive human rights monitoring. FRA The traditionally close, positive co-operation of the AOB with the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) continued in 2013. For instance, former Ombudsman Kostelka accepted an invitation from the Director of FRA, Morton Kjaerum, to a work meeting at FRA. The AOB was also present at the annual meeting of the National Human Rights Institutions of EU member states, which took place in Vienna and was organised by FRA. Network of European citizen representatives Ombudswoman Brinek attended the 9th National Seminar of the European Ombudsman Network of Citizen Representatives, which took place in Dublin in September 2013. Around 100 seminar participants from across Europe discussed “Good administration and the rights of citizens in times of austerity”. Ombudswoman Brinek, who chaired one of the four meetings, drew attention to the need for equal treatment of all concerns, but also to the question of how to handle the many worries and requests which are not directly related to mistakes by the authorities. In addition, the AOB regularly provides expertise on specialised topics for work documents and reports by the network of European Ombudsmen. 54