The International Ombudsman Institute (I.O.I.), established in 1978, is a worldwide organization of ombudsman offices. It is incorporated as a non-profit organization and, as such, has the status of a natural person at law. Its Headquarters are currently moving from Alberta, Canada, to Vienna, Austria, where they will will be based from 1 September 2009 on.

Institutional Members are public sector, independent ombudsman offices located around the world. Within its Board of Directors the recognised regions of Africa , Asia , Australasia and Pacific, Caribbean and Latin America , North America and Europe are represented. Yet, each region serves as a regional constituency of the I.O.I. for the purposes of promoting regional participation in the activities of the Institute and to decentralise its activities.

The present Board of the European Region was elected by the General Assembly of the I.O.I. at Stockholm in June 2009.