Other contacts and activities As described above, the pandemic only briefly affected the Commission’s visits, but it significantly hampered personal and regular interaction with relevant contact persons and other planned activities of the Commission. For example, the Forum on Migration had to be postponed due to the temporary cantonal ban on holding events. The forum thrives on open and direct discussions between all participants. A virtual event could not do justice to this. Similarly, the planned meeting with the German and Austrian national preventive mechanisms (NPM) had to be postponed. 3.1 Contacts with federal authorities a. Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) The Commission met with representatives of the FDJP General Secretariat and the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) on various occasions during the reporting year. These discussions were held to clarify issues surrounding the selection procedure for new Commission members. The primary aim of these discussions was to find suitable solutions to involve the Commission Chair more closely in the selection process. Based on the recommendations of the SPT26, the Commission requested the General Secretariat of the FDJP to increase Commission Secretariat’s budget so that inspection visits to social care institutions could be arranged. The Commission maintained regular contacts with the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), in particular with the Asylum Directorate, and in August discussed the findings and recommendations made while monitoring federal asylum centres. b. Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) The Commission was in contact with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), particularly the Communicable Diseases Division, on several occasions and discussed the findings from its project to See Section 1.3 Strategic development. 26 22 Activity report NCPT 2020