PRESS RELEASE
November 23, 2004
American University of Armenia Corporation
300 Lakeside Drive, 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 987-9452
Fax: (510) 208-3576
Contact: Gohar Momjian
E-mail: gohar@auac.net
AUA Extension Program Features Ombudsman Dean Gottehrer
Yerevan – Co-sponsored with Armenia’s National Assembly and the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), AUA’s Extension Program Lecture Series
featured guest speaker, Dean Gottehrer, UNDP Consultant on Ombudsmen who
spoke on Ombudsman Institutions: History, Development, and Challenges. While
visiting Armenia at the invitation of the “Promoting Human Rights and
Facilitating Public Awareness of the Public Defender’s Office in Armenia
Project,” the primary objective of Mr. Gottehrer’s mission was to assist in
increasing awareness and understanding of the Armenian public about the role
and functions of national human rights institutions. He emphasized the
characteristics that were essential in an Ombudsman institution, the
Ombudsman institution functions and how people can voice their concerns.
During his lecture, Dean Gottehrer discussed the history of Ombudsman
institutions from the first Swedish Ombudsman to the international basis of
establishing National Human Rights Institutions. “In my ombudsman
experience, the most able ombudsmen and most open and committed government
officials can work together to solve and prevent violations of human rights
and improve the quality of public life.” He pointed out that the Ombudsman
institutions most likely to succeed are those in which the government has
made clear its commitment to listen to recommendations and follow them
through. “The success of an Ombudsman is like a excellent soup–composed of
many elements that all need to work well with each other,” stated Gottehrer.
Mr. Dean M. Gottehrer is an experienced specialist who has been consulting
on Ombudsman issues in 22 countries, including 14 post-communist countries,
working as an expert, consultant, and professional in residence on Ombudsman
and Human Rights Institutions for many US government and international
organizations. Gottehrer suggested an approach that comes closer to a
realistic standard to appraise the work of the Ombudsman. “My suggestion is
that you take a comprehensive look at the Ombudsman’s work. This is like
tasting that soup I spoke about earlier. If you focus on one or two
ingredients in the soup, you are not going to have a comprehensive appraisal
of its quality. You need to think about all of the ingredients and how well
they blend together to make a soup that tastes good and is nourishing.”
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The American University of Armenia is registered as a non-profit educational
organization in both Armenia and the United States and is affiliated with
the Regents of the University of California. Receiving major support from
the AGBU, AUA offers instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight
graduate programs. For more information about AUA, visit
Photo: Dean Guttehrer, UNDP Consultant on Ombudsmen, speaks at AUA
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress