The Ombudsman around the world Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, partly to report on their visit and partly to attempt to get the support for the Avocati i Popullit institution restored during this difficult period. A new support programme worth approx. DKK 10 million was signed on 21 December 2011. Ombudsmen and their institutions are often very much alone in their work. The establishment phase is of course extremely important to the institution’s chances of falling into place. However, as experiences in Albania have shown, long-term, patient support is very often necessary. Ghana In many ways, things are going well and improving in Ghana, also economically. Nonetheless, the country, which includes the former Danish Gold Coast colony, is still profoundly affected by a history of poverty and exploitation. In many ways, Ghana is representative of the problems many African countries have experienced in implementing and maintaining a democratic system of ­government. After the country gained its independence in 1957, the great hero of the battle for independence, Nkrumah, was deposed by a military coup in 1966. During the following years, which were characterised by increasing poverty, the country was led by successive civilian and military governments until the mid 1990s, when Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings fulfilled his promises of letting the country change to a popularly elected government. During a visit in 1995, the governor of the Ashanti province pointed out the dilemma between anti-poverty programmes and the development of democracy to one of the Danish Ombudsman’s employees: ‘If I have to choose between being able to feed 1,000 of my countrymen or using the money to support an ombudsman, I would not hesitate to choose the former. Why don’t you do the same with your support for Ghana and help us get out of poverty more quickly?’ This is probably to a large extent the explanation for the fact later formulated by the former Ghanaian Commissioner on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Emile Short: There must, of course, be a minimum of political will to ensure the survival and effective functioning of these democratic institutions. In 1995, Ghana decided to transform a failed ombudsman office into an institution better calibrated to the situation and needs in Ghana. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, as it came to be called, also reflects in 77