teams, both questions that are currently being dealt with and fundamental determinations have been discussed and resolved. This enabled important coordination for the day-to-day routine of the NPM. The report database was expanded to improve the basis for the work, both for the AOB’s legal experts as well as the members of the commissions that undertake site visits and their heads. Workshops and working sessions are examples of the good cooperation with authorities; meetings with representatives of the police and with the social services administration are two such examples. In order to make the work of the NPM accessible to an informed public audience and to enable discussion of new impulses by a wide circle of representatives of civil society, ideas about the development of basic elements of a National Action Plan for Human Rights (NAP Human Rights) were presented and discussed in an NGO forum and experiences and thought-provoking ideas in respect of human rights were set out. The NPM summarised that both the fundamental mandate of “protection and promotion of human rights” and the individual responsibilities and activities derived from this mandate are well embedded in the consciousness of the general public and the NPM is successfully established as the “Human Rights House of the Republic of Austria”. Publications in specialised media have contributed and are contributing to the deeper establishment of the NPM and illustrate the competence of the employees and the participating stakeholders. International networking In order to share experiences with other preventive mechanisms in the German-speaking world, the NPM sent representatives to an initial meeting in Berlin in April. The goal of this meeting was to establish collaboration between the NPMs of Germany, Austria and Switzerland; the focal points were sharing ideas about effective prevention work, successful work methodologies and tried-and-tested strategies in the individual countries. Due to the great success of this first meeting, the NPM will plan a subsequent meeting in Austria. Sharing of experience and ideas in Germanspeaking countries Since October 2013, the NPM has also been a member of the SouthEast Europe NPM Network (SEE NPM Network). This association of ombudsman institutions from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria, which have been entrusted with NPM responsibilities, provides a forum where knowledge and experiences are shared and mutual support is provided. The NPM was South-East Europe NPM Network 21