16 National and international dialogue Sharing information about the situation for those who have been deprived of their liberty in Norway is a key part off our preventive work. We therefore work strategically through knowledge-sharing and advocacy. We do this via seminars, lectures, education and dialogue with relevant institutions (see Activities in 2020). International dialogue and cooperation have been particularly important in 2020. The pandemic has created new challenges and we have greatly benefited from holding ongoing discussions with other national preventive mechanisms and with international organisations and human rights agen­ cies. The exchange of knowledge and ideas on new ways of working has taken place via various digital platforms. Cooperation between the national preventive mechanisms in the Nordic countries has similarly been productive (see Chapter 6 International Cooperation). National Preventive Mechanism staff The NPM has an interdisciplinary composition and includes staff with degrees in law, police studies, criminology, sociology, and psychology, as well as employees with interdisciplinary educational backgrounds. NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2020 The NPM is organised as a separate department under the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The NPM does not consider individual complaints. External experts The NPM has the possibility to call in external expertise if this is considered necessary. External experts can be assigned to the NPM’s visit team during the preparation and execution of one or more visits. They can also assist in writing the visit report and provide professional advice and expertise to the visit team. In 2020, expertise and training were requested from several experts within geriatric health and conditions for persons with intellectual disabilities. This included expertise in relation to housing conditions, medical issues, regulations and methods for obtaining information and conducting interviews. The NPM has created guidelines on how to safely conduct visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this particular work we have had dialogue with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health on infection control measures (see Chapter 5 National Dialogue).