Prishtina, 20 June 2023 – The 15^th International Conference of Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces (15ICOAF), has gathered in Vienna, Austria, over 100 participants from all over the world, in the proceedings held on 18-20 June 2023.

The Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo is represented by the Deputy Ombusdperson, Majlinda Lulaj and the Director, Tafil Rrahmani, alongside their colleagues from about 40 participating countries, all over the globe.

The topic of the conference for this year was “Governing the impacts of climate change – Ombuds Institutions and the Armed Forces”.

As one of the most challenging issues of the 21^st century, climate change and the impact that these changes have on social, economic, political and public life, force the security sector to calculate the new reality and the essential impact that climate change, and the effects of these changes, have in their mandate and the way they act.

This year’s conference aimed to provide the space to explore the impact of climate change on the armed forces, to describe concretely how this impact translates into changes within the boundaries of their work, as well as to learn from good practices.

Actors of the security sector are a potential factor to prevent, mitigate and solve environmental security crises, just as, on the contrary, they can be an actor to complicate their negative effects.

On the other hand, Ombuds Institutions represent a critical element in strengthening good governance in the security sector. Considering that they have been entrusted with the task of supervision, Ombuds Institutions influence the construction of accountable, transparent, participatory, responsible and effective institutions. From this point of view, it is of primary importance to strengthen the capacities of Ombuds institutions, to make it possible to effectively govern and supervise the changes within the armed forces that are related to the climate.

This year’s conference was held as a joint organization of the Austrian Parliamentary Commission for the Federal Armed Forces and DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance.

ICOAF already represents an important international forum to promote and strengthen the democratic supervision of the armed forces, with participants who jointly share the same aspirations to promote the exchange of good practices, such as increased cooperation between Ombuds institutions.