The Ombudsman is pleased to release another Special Report on the Observance of Multilingualism for the year 2019 as provided by Article 64(3) of the Constitution.

Ombudsman Bulu took up Office as the 6th Ombudsman of the Republic of Vanuatu on the 10th of July 2019 and this report is his first report on the important matter of Multilingualism.

Ombudsman Bulu is also satisfied to note that compliance with the requirement of the Constitution in this regard has continued to improve.

The Ombudsman also note the amount of progress on the part of different government agencies in terms of compliance with the provisions of Language rights in the past 4 years and he urges the Government and all Government institutions to continue to respect the Constitution of the Republic of Vanuatu.

The Ombudsman wishes to stress the importance of using our three official languages, which are French, English and Bislama in the provision of services in the administration of affairs of the Republic of Vanuatu.

The administration has a duty towards the citizens of the Republic of Vanuatu to provide a fair service delivery in terms of usage of the official languages of its citizens.

A citizen has a right to receive a service from the Government or an institution of the Government in one of the official languages that he or she uses. This is a pre-condition imposed by the Constitution to ensure that the Government or an institution of the Government is fair to its citizens in this regard. The Ombudsman wishes to remind all citizens that they have a right to complaint to the Ombudsman against the administration of the Republic of Vanuatu id anyone believes his or her right has been violated as provided for by Article64(2) of the Constitution.

A copy of the 2019 Ombudsman Multilingualism Report can be obtained from the Ombudsman Website.