Asian

Ombudsman
Association

Promoting Better, Accountable Governance in Asia

www.aoa.org.pk
 About the AOA
The Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) was
established in 1996 to provide a platform for
Ombudsmen and similar institutions of accountability
and grievance redress, working in Asia. The AOA
currently has 23 members from 15 countries and is
governed by a nine-member Board of Directors. The
Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) of Pakistan is the
elected President, while other elected officials are the
Ombudsman of the Philippines as the Vice President,
Ombudsman of Hong Kong as the Secretary and the
Chairman of Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights
Commission, Korea as the Treasurer.

Objectives

The AOA is an independent, non-political, democratic

and professional body formed to:
l Promote the concepts of Ombudsmanship and
to encourage its development in Asia.
l Develop professionalism in discharge of the
functions as Ombudsman.
l Encourage and support study and research
regarding the institution of the Ombudsman.
l Sponsor training and educational programmes
for the institutions of Ombudsman in the region.
l Provide scholarships, fellowships, grants and
other types of financial support to individuals for
study relating to the institution of the
Ombudsman.
1
l Collect, store, disseminate information and
research data about the institution of the
Ombudsman.
l Facilitate exchange of information and
experiences among Asian Ombudsmen.
l Plan, arrange and supervise periodic
conferences.
l Undertake such other matters necessary to
further the above objectives.

Governance Structure

The AOA is governed by a nine-member Board of

Directors, who are elected for a four-year term. Mr.
Javed Sadiq Malik, the Wafaqi Mohtasib
(Ombudsman) of Pakistan, is the President of the
AOA and chairs the Board, while Madam Merceditas
N. Gutierrez the Ombudsman of the Philippines, is the
Vice-President, Mr. Alan N. LAI, the Ombudsman of
Hong Kong is the Secretary and Dr. Yang Kun, the
Chairman of the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights
Commission, Korea the treasurer.

The day to day operations are managed by the AOA

Secretariat, which is headquartered in Islamabad,
Pakistan. The Secretariat is headed by Mr.
Ghiasuddin as the Executive Secretary and includes
Mr. Abdur Rauf, Administrator and Maria Khan,
Manager Coordination.

2
 Board of Directors & General Assembly
Board of Directors Other Members
President Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Al-Sanafi
Mr. Javed Sadiq Malik Central Organization for Control & Auditing
Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Republic of Yemen
Pakistan Mr. Asad Ashraf Malik
Provincial Ombudsman
Vice President Sindh (Pakistan)
Madam Merceditas N. Gutierrez
Ombudsman Mr. Ranjit B Ranaraja
Republic of the Philippines Parliamentary Commission for Administration,
Sri Lanka
Secretary Mr. Antonius Sujata, SH
Mr. Alan N. LAI National Ombudsman
Ombudsman Indonesia
Hong Kong, SAR, China Mr. Justice Ripusudan Dayal
Lokayukta, Madhya Pradesh
Treasurer India
Dr. Yang Kun
Mr. Khalid Mahmood
Chairman
Provincial Ombudsman
Anti-corruption and Civil Rights
Punjab (Pakistan)
Commission
Korea Mr. Muhammad Shoaib Suddle
Federal Tax Ombudsman
Ms. Ma Wen Pakistan
Minister Mr. Akbar Ali Baloch
Ministry of Supervision Provincial Ombudsman
People's Republic of China Balochistan (Pakistan)
Mr. Tran Van Truyen
Mr. Mostafa Pour Mohammadi Inspector General
President/Head Government Inspectorate
General Inspection Organization Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Islamic Republic of Iran
Mr. Justice (Retd.) S. Ali Aslam Jaffri
Mr. Seki Yuichi Federal Insurance Ombudsman, Pakistan
Director-General Prof. Elmira Suleymanova
Administrative Evaluation Bureau Commissioner for Human Rights,
Japan Republic of Azerbaijan
Mr. Tursunvek Akun
Dr. Tam Weng Wah Ombudsman Institution
Director-General Kyrgyz Republic
Public Complaints Bureau
Malaysia Vacant
Ombudsman
Azad Jammu & Kashmir, (Pakistan)
General Teeradej Meepien (Ret.)
Chief Ombudsman Mr. Cheong U
Thailand Commissioner
Commission Against Corruption,
Macao, SAR, China

3
 Membership

The AOA comprises Full Members, Associate

Members, Honorary Life Members and Individual
Members. Besides the Founding Members, each of
whom has a right of vote, other Full Members have a
right of vote subject to the condition that member(s)
from a particular country shall only have one vote
except the founding members who retained their
individual votes. At present there are 23 members
from 15 countries.

General Assembly

The General Assembly consists of the Full Members,

and is convened once every two years by the
President. It has the right to:-
(a) accept full membership;
(b) elect the members of the Board of Directors and
an auditor;
(c) fix the membership dues;
(d) pass amendments in the statute;
(e) confer special honours on deserving persons;
and
(f) approve reports of the Board of Directors and
the Auditor.

4
 Legal Framework

The AOA is registered in Pakistan under the Voluntary

Social Welfare Agencies (Registration and Control)
Ordinance 1961. Operations of the AOA are governed
and guided by the Bye-Laws and a Code of Conduct.

AOA Secretariat

The AOA Secretariat is located in Islamabad,

Pakistan. A small team, comprising an Executive
Secretary, Administrator and a Manager Coordination
looks after day to day operations. The Additional
Secretary (International Cooperation Wing) of the
office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) of
Pakistan provides additional support and oversight to
the AOA activities.

In order to ensure efficiency in coordination and

communication, every member of AOA has identified
focal persons, with whom the Secretariat interacts
regularly.

5
Exciting Benefits Beckon!

Membership of the AOA opens doors to rewarding

services for Ombudsmen in Asia. These benefits will
help members raise the efficiency and quality of their
services and performance. The benefits cover a
broad range of capacity building and knowledge
management activities, including:

l Learning by sharing through regular interaction

with other Ombudsman institutions in Asia and
beyond.
l Opportunities of study tours for senior
management staff of the member institutions to
personally observe policy formulation and decision
making processes in other institutions.

Delegates of the 9th meeting of BoD visiting the communication/call center in

the General Inspection Organization, Islamic Republic of Iran

6
l Access to the AOA Resource Centre and a host of
print and online knowledge products such as
reports, studies, fact sheets, working papers,
policy papers, research studies, guidelines and
manuals.

A view of the AOA Resource Center, Islamabad Pakistan

l A chance to organize and participate in

conferences and workshops for deliberating on the
challenges faced by them and remain at the cutting
edge of policies and practices in Ombudsmanship.

7th Annual meeting of AOA Board of Directors in process, Islamabad, Pakistan

7
l Access to E-Library acts as a central point of
information which facilitates exchange of
publications in the form of reports, research
outputs and best practices.

A view of AOA website home page providing online links to knowledge products

l Support for research and studies to analyze

important crosscutting components of specific
interventions; issues influencing service delivery
and issues relating to new members and their
institutional development.
l Being part of a large knowledge network of
practitioners in the field of accountability,
transparency, integrity and human rights and
learning from sharing.

8
Applying for Membership

Applying for membership in the AOA is a very simple

process, as outlined below:
Step 1
Determine which type of membership you wish to
apply for (i.e. for Full Membership, Associate
Membership or Individual Membership).
Full Members
A person holding the office of Ombudsman,
Parliamentary Commissioner, Minister of
Supervision, Commissioner for Administrative
Complaints or the head of any office or
organisation known by any designation who has
been appointed or elected according to the
constitution or law of the country/region and
whose role includes the following characteristics
may apply for the full membership.
(a) to investigate the grievance of any person
or body of persons concerning any
decision or recommendation made or any
act committed or omitted by any
administrative authority over which his
jurisdiction exists;
(b) to make recommendations to authorities
under the jurisdiction;
(c) to discharge functions independent of the
organization over which jurisdiction is
held; and
(d) to report to the Head of State,
Government or the Legislature the results
of activities or on any matter arising from
an investigation.
9
 Associate Members
Persons or heads of agencies interested in or
involved in Ombudsman-related activities who
do not qualify as Full Members (for example,
heads of universities, hospitals, prisons and the
press etc.) may join as Associate Members.
Individual Members
The Association may allow any individual to
become a member who has shown interest
through writings, research or otherwise on the
concept of Ombudsmanship and whose
membership shall advance the objectives of the
Association.
Step 2
Fill out the enclosed form, or download it from
www.aoa.org.pk where the Bye-Laws and Code of
Conduct of the Association are also available for
download and review.
Step 3
Submit the completed form along with application
processing fee of US$ 250 (Full Membership), US$
150 (Associate Membership) and US$100 (Individual
Membership) payable through a demand draft in
favour of the 'Asian Ombudsman Association' or
through bank wire to:
Account No. : 0597-1202-0000-98-7
Bank : MCB Bank Ltd.
Branch : Aabpara Market,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Swift Code : MUCBPKKAA
Annual Membership Fee:
Full Member : US$ 1000/-
Associate Member : US$ 150/-
Individual Member : US$ 100/-
10
 Contact Details

Asian Ombudsman Association AOA Secretariat,

Benevolent Fund Building, Zero Point, Islamabad,
Pakistan.
Ph: +92 51 2202845, Fax: +92 51 2202845
info@aoa.org.pk

For general enquiries please write to the

Administrator at:-
administrator@aoa.org.pk or info@aoa.org.pk

For membership information please write to:-

membership@aoa.org.pk

For more information about the AOA please visit:-

www.aoa.org.pk

11
 Asian Ombudsman
Association

APPLICATION FORM
FOR A.O.A. MEMBERSHIP

Type of Membership applied for:-

Full Member

Associate Member

Individual Member

1. Office or Person Applying:

________________________________________________

2. Details of Office:
________________________________________________

3. Address:
________________________________________________

4. Telephone: _____________ Fax: ____________________

Email: _________________ Website: ________________

5. Documents attached:
________________________________________________

________________________________________________

6. Other information that may facilitate communication:

________________________________________________

________________________________________________
7. I declare and affirm as follows:

(i) I have read and am cognizant of the requirements of

the Bye-Laws of the Asian Ombudsman
Association insofar as they apply to matters of
Memberships.

(ii) That the office applying for membership meets the

requirements listed under Bye-Law 5.

(iii) That the attached information confirms eligibility

for Membership.

And I make this solemn declaration by virtue of the law

applicable to the State or place of the Applicant's domicile.

Declared at ______________________________________

Signature (Applicant) ______________________________

Title (Designation of Office) _________________________

Title ____________________________________________