This week (Monday, November 29, 2022) the Office of the Ombudsman, within the Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman, office hosted a professional round tables conference for ombudspersons of public bodies. The conference was attended among others by State Comptroller and Ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman, Head of the Office of the Ombudsman, Dr. Esther BenHaim, and ombudspersons from some 60 public bodies.
State Comptroller and Ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman: “I was glad to host the ombudspersons of various public bodies for professional discourse and mutual learning.
"Upon entering my position, I set an objective of increasing the number of complaints handled by our office. Over the las three years, the number of complaints has increased from 15,000 to over 20,000 complaints a year. Many complaints revolve around the service provided by ministries and various public bodies. Therefore, I see importance in strengthening the status (of the Office?) and providing professional guidance to the people in charge of investigating complaints in all public bodies in Israel”.
Dr. Esther Ben-Haim, Head of the Office of the Ombudsman: “As part of the Ombudsman’s activity as a 'professional home' for those dealinginthe investigation ofcomplaints, our office has serves as a host to an event for collegial learning between ombudspersons on the subject of improving the handling of public complaints. The investigation of complaints is a professional field crossing different bodies and sectors. As such, we are capable of conducting collegial learning on different issues by hearing and sharing the actions and ways of coping of those dealing in the investigation of complaints. Yesterday’s event was the harbinger of similar events in the future”.