14 NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2020 NPM employees travel in an environmentally friendly manner. Visit reports are published on the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s website. Some of the institutions we have visited are very small, so we may publish a collective description of findings from several places in one report. This can apply to small institutions in the child welfare sector and housing facilities for persons with intellectual disabilities. This is done primarily to ensure anonymity for those who have been deprived of their liberty. However, it can also be beneficial to collate more extensive source material and to better describe contexts and more overarching risk factors. There­ fore, a separate report is not always published for each place visited. liberty, staff and others who may find them useful, such as families or guardians. In addition to our findings, the reports contain recommendations to institutions where necessary. The goal of these recommendations is to reduce the risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In 2020, the preventive work of the Ombudsman has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the precautionary principle, the NPM decided to suspend planned visits from 11 March 2020. During the spring, we had extensive communication with national and international partners regarding how the pandemic affected the situation for those who were deprived of their liberty. We also launched a dedicated website where we gathered relevant resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The visit reports are sent to the responsible minis­ try, directorate, supervisory authority and members of our Advisory Committee. Each institution receives copies of our reports and we ask that these are made available to those deprived of their The places visited are given a deadline for inform­ ing about measures implemented to folow up the recomendations by the Ombudsman. Information about follow-up is also published on the Ombuds­ man’s website. Follow-up of some recommenda­ tions requires limited efforts – others are more demanding. This means that follow-up after some visits can be a time consuming process, whilst it is concluded relatively quickly after others. Development of methods: The COVID-19 pandemic and visits to new sectors