Bilateral contacts and projects At the beginning of the year, Ombudsman Peter Kostelka took part in a noteworthy ombudsman event in Helsinki, where Finland’s Ombudsman Board, one of the world’s oldest ombudsman offices, was celebrating its 90th anniversary. September saw an event in Hungary, attended by all three AOB members: in the presence of numerous parliamentarians, Dr. Máté Szabó, Hungary’s Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights, held discussions about the responsibilities of ombudsman offices in relation to anti-discrimination and environmental matters. Events abroad The AOB also hosted a number of international visitors during the year. Bilateral meetings of this kind were an opportunity to discuss collaborative activities, organisational issues, work methods, best practice models and how best to uphold human rights in often difficult situations. Visitors included Asad Ashraf Malik, Ombudsman of Sindh province in Pakistan; Catalan Ombudsman Rafael Ribó, and Azerbaijani Ombudswoman Elmira Suleymanova. European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros, Indonesia’s Deputy Ombudswoman Sunaryati Hartono, and Young-Keun Lee, Vice-Chairman of Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, also strengthened their ties with the I.O.I. Also of note were visits from Polish Ombudswoman Irena Lipowicz; Israeli Ombudsman Micha Lindenstrauss; a twenty-person delegation from Kazakhstan’s Ombudsman Office and justice ministry, as well as Ian Pattison of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association (BIOA). International visitors International organisations In January 2011, the human rights situation in Austria came under scrutiny as part of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review. The objective of the UPR is to determine whether and how a country, in this case Austria, is implementing civic, cultural, social, economic and political rights. The AOB played an active role in preparations for this, both within Austria and at the international level, and was represented by Ombudswoman Terezija Stoisits at the key meeting of the Human Rights Council in January. UN Universal Periodic Review 19