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The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), integrated within the Ombudsman’s Office, has carried out for the first time visits to the five specialised residential care units for children and young people with intensive educational and/or therapeutic needs. To mark Universal Children’s Day, which is celebrated today, the report presenting the findings of this work is being released. Although they represent only…
Two years after the deadline for submitting applications to the Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings (PAE+S 2023), the Ombudsman continues to receive new complaints on the subject. Marking these two years, a new assessment of the programme’s implementation was sent to the Secretary of State for the Environment. The document is being released at a time when thousands of…
On 7 November, Deputy Ombudsman Estrela Chaby participated in a working meeting on the justice system, promoted by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco. The initiative brought together representatives of the Government, parliamentary groups and officials from various entities in the sector, with the aim of identifying priority areas of convergence with a view to…
On 28 November, the Ombudsman’s Office is promoting a new edition of “Encounters at the Ombudsman’s Office”, an initiative that aims to encourage reflection and dialogue on fundamental rights and issues relevant to society. This third edition will focus on the theme “Caring, Protecting, Empowering: challenges of residential care for children and young people”, bringing together different perspectives and experiences…
The Ombudsman sent a letter to the Government following the persistent lack of action by Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A. (IP) in controlling environmental noise in the transport infrastructure under its responsibility. Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A. has not yet prepared or submitted a significant part of the strategic noise maps and action plans for the 2021-2026 control cycle, which is therefore…
The Ombudsperson has been monitoring the issue of citizen services in public services. Approximately a year and a half after the publication of the thematic report, and based on its 25 recommendations, the Ombudsperson’s Office has completed a Follow-up Report, published today, 14 October 2025. It addresses the same broad areas analysed in 2023, namely information for citizens, waiting times,…
On 25 September, the Ombudsperson held the award ceremony for the “The Future of Rights is Now” competition, followed by the opening of an exhibition of the entries. The competition was aimed at children and young people aged between 6 and 18, challenging them to represent their vision of human rights through art. A total of 123 entries were received,…
The Deputy Ombudsperson, Estrela Chaby, was received in audience by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees on 17 September to present the Activity Reports for the year 2024. The recording of the hearing is available here.
The Ombudsman has sent an official letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, highlighting serious irregularities in both the framework and the implementation of the extraordinary rent support scheme, and calling for its urgent revision. This initiative follows a significant volume of complaints revealing systemic failures, some of which had already been flagged in the last two annual reports…
On 18 July, the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security informed the Ombudsperson of its “full acceptance” of Recommendation No. 2/B/2025 of 7 May, which called for the correction of irregular practices by Social Security when demanding the repayment of unduly processed social benefits, as well as a review of the respective legal regime. These are practices that have…
