_{Photo: Ombudsman of Belize, Hon. Maj. (Ret’d) H. Gilbert Swaso, JP}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Nov. 20, 2024

The Ombudsman of Belize, Hon. Maj. (Ret’d) H. Gilbert Swaso, JP, recently became the first Belizean to be elected to the executive board of the Caribbean Association of Ombudsmen (CAROA).

“It is an honor, and I’m humbled to be elected. So, it gives me a responsibility for us to learn and share the interests of the citizens of the respective jurisdictions,” he said.

The election took place during the 15th annual CAROA General Membership Meeting on Friday, November 15.

“After deliberating, it was time to elect the new representatives of the CAROA executive board. I may state here and now that it was at that point that Dr. Nigel Taylor, who recently visited Belize just last week, was elected to be the president, and I was also elected to be a board member of the association,” he said.

“So, being a board member, we now have the responsibility to ensure that all member states of CARICOM and the small island states will have to look at that from a larger perspective to ensure that we strengthen the office of the Ombudsman within the respective jurisdictions, and also to ensure that fairness, justice, and human rights prevail in a uniform, almost standardized [manner,] based on the realities of the respective countries,” Hon. Maj. Swaso went on to state.

He will collaborate with his regional counterparts to foster accountability, enhance ombudsman accessibility, and promote best practices in public service governance across the Caribbean.

The 2024 CAROA executive board members include: president: Dr. Nigel Taylor, Ombudsman, Barbados; vice-president: Erica Smith-Penn, Ombudsman, British Virgin Islands; board member: Gwendolien Mossel, Ombudsman, Saint Maarten; board member: Sharon Roulstone, Ombudsman, Cayman Islands; board member: Hon. Maj. (Ret’d) H. Gilbert Swaso, JP, Ombudsman, Belize; Honorary Secretary: Herbert Potter, Deputy Ombudsman, British Virgin Islands; Honorary Treasurer: Raymond Mathilda, Executive Secretary, Ombudsman, Curaçao.