Submitted by crinadmin on
The ENOC Annual Meeting took place on 21-23 September 2005, and was hosted by the Ombudsman for Children in Poland, Pawel Jaros, and his team. There were 59 participants at the meeting, including 25 from various Ombudsperson’s Offices (covering 22 countries) and 16 observers (see list of participants in Annex 4). The meeting was opened by Pawel Jaros, who welcomed all participants to Poland. A welcome address was given by Stanislaw Trociuk, Deputy Commissioner for Civil Right Protection in Poland, who expressed his satisfaction on the fruitful cooperation between the Polish Ombudsman and his office in the advocacy of child rights within the family environment. The ENOC activities update was presented by Rhian Davis, Assistant Commissioner for Wales on behalf of Peter Clarke. Ms. Davis reported the major activities and initiatives undertaken by the Chairperson on behalf of ENOC (see Annex 1). An official letter to request funding for a permanent Secretariat for ENOC was send to the European Commission. However, despite all efforts a reply is still pending. Ms. Davis also mentioned that the Chairperson presented and represented ENOC at the UN Regional Consultation in Slovenia, and noted that several governments have contacted ENOC with regard to establishing an Ombudsperson’s office in their countries. Ms. Davis concluded by expressing her particular appreciation for Lesley Miller’s tremendous support and encouragement to the Network providing the Secretariat on behalf of UNICEF since the first meeting in Trondheim in 1997; Lesley has left to take up a post in Cambodia and is replaced by Caroline Bakker.