decentralized units may be designated as national preventive mechanisms for the purposes of the present Protocol if they are in conformity with its provisions. Article 18 1. The States Parties shall guarantee the functional independence of the national preventive mechanisms as well as the independence of their personnel. 2. The States Parties shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the experts of the national preventive mechanism have the required capabilities and professional knowledge. They shall strive for a gender balance and the adequate representation of ethnic and minority groups in the country. 3. The States Parties undertake to make available the necessary resources for the functioning of the national preventive mechanisms. 4. When establishing national preventive mechanisms, States Parties shall give due consideration to the Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights. Article 19 The national preventive mechanisms shall be granted at a minimum the power: (a) To regularly examine the treatment of the persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention as defined in article 4, with a view to strengthening, if necessary, their protection against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; (b) To make recommendations to the relevant authorities with the aim of improving the treatment and the conditions of the persons deprived of their liberty and to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, taking into consideration the relevant norms of the United Nations; (c) To submit proposals and observations concerning existing or draft legislation. Article 20 In order to enable the national preventive mechanisms to fulfil their mandate, the States Parties to the present Protocol undertake to grant them: (a) Access to all information concerning the number of persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention as defined in article 4, as well as the number of places and their location; (b) Access to all information referring to the treatment of those persons as well as their conditions of detention; (c) Access to all places of detention and their installations and facilities; 99