81 International Cooperation The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) is in contact with multiple international parties, sharing experiences with and placing itself at the disposal of international human rights organisations and others that visit Norway. Nordic Prevention Network The Nordic Prevention Network held two ­meetings during the year. The network comprises ­representatives from all the national preventive mechanisms in the Nordic countries with equivalent mandates to the Parliamentary Ombudsman under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT). The Nordic networking meetings are important forums for exchanging knowledge, experience and practice among the Nordic countries and providing new impetus to their work. The first meeting of the year took place in Helsinki in January 2019. The topic of the meeting was the methodology employed during preventive visits, risk factors during the transportation of people deprived of their liberty and of persons with disabilities. This spurred a number of ideas for focus areas and methodology for visits to this sector. Examples such as attending to hygiene needs, self-determination in everyday life and care during the last phases of life were highlighted as important focus areas for elderly persons in nursing homes. The second network meeting was held in Reykjavik in September 2019. The topic of the meeting was dilemmas that arise when treatment involves coercion. The network also visited Kleppur, a closed psychiatric hospital for patients who have been committed. A tour of the hospital was organised, and various restraint measures were presented and discussed. The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Parliamentary Ombudsman welcomed the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, when she was in Norway to investigate how Norway honours the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Special Rapporteur pointed out that Norway must increase its efforts to reduce the use of coercion in mental healthcare institutions. She also brought attention to the healthcare services ­available to children and young persons, and expressed c ­ oncern that the institutional detention of children and young persons should be replaced by good mental healthcare s ­ ervices. The Special Rapporteur paid special attention to the content of the Special Report to the Storting on Solitary Confinement and Lack of Human Contact in Norwegian Prisons, and was c ­ oncerned about the healthcare services for people with mental disorders or mental disabilities in Norwegian prisons. She also encouraged the NPM to visit institutions for elderly and people with m ­ ental disabilities. The Special Rapporteur ­emphasised that Norwegian legislation had to comply with the commitments outlined in the CRPD, and she was concerned about the use of ­electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on grounds of necessity.