NPM. In June 2015, the AOB and the BIM conducted joint trainings of the Macedonian NPM team in Skopje and, for this purpose, visited a detention centre. In July 2015, a study visit by a Macedonian delegation to the AOB took place as part of this twinning project. During this one-week stay, the Macedonian guests were prepared for problems that arise during asylum proceedings at both, a theoretical and a practical level. The Macedonian delegation also had the opportunity to accompany commissions of the Austrian NPM during visits to a police detention centre, a reception centre and a police station. This enabled the delegation to observe practical monitoring and control from close up. In September, the persons heading the project at the participating institutions met to evaluate the progress of the project and to discuss the next points of focus. The topic of asylum and the current refugee situation in Europe were also a main component of the discussions between Ombudswoman Gertrude Brinek and Ombudsman Ixhet Memeti. At the end of the year, Ombudswoman Brinek and her Macedonian colleague visited the border crossing in Gevgelija and the fenced-off camps, where refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq were waiting to travel to northern Europe. It became clear that without technical aids (passport readers, appropriate software, etc.), it is completely at the discretion of the individual border police who can travel onward and who cannot. The persons present reported many doubtful and arbitrary decisions. Ombudswoman Brinek supported her colleague Ombudsman Memeti, demanding that the border officials receive better equipment. She emphasised the importance of initial care (food, clothing, and medical assistance) and pointed out the necessity of technical aids to improve the collection of information about the origin of the arrivals. 1.9.5. Bilateral contacts and support provided The national human rights institution (NHRI) of Finland comprises a 40person human rights delegation of the Finnish Human Rights Centre, consisting of members from different human rights actors, in cooperation with the Finnish ombudsman institution. Since the conclusion of the ratification process of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it has functioned in this way as an independent national mechanism in accordance with Article 33.2 of the UN CRPD. In preparation for this new responsibility, the Human Rights Centre organised an orientation meeting in Helsinki for its human rights delegation and invited experts from other institutions to contribute their experience in the field of monitoring the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities within the scope of interactive working groups. An expert from the AOB was a speaker at this meeting in Helsinki. In April 2015, Ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauer received a delegation of the Kyrgyz Centre for the Prevention of Torture for a two-day study visit 24