Implementation Guidelines for Regional Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders • Emergency grants: Financial assistance can be essential for HRDs to evade risk. Grants can be provided to support HRDs to cover essential expenses, such as secure communication, humanitarian assistance, medical, legal, travel, relocation, equipment replacement, transportation, monitoring, administrative, advocacy campaigns’, training activities or capacity strengthening.66 • Responses of rapid response teams: Elaborated in sub-section D, teams specifically designed to provide an urgent and immediate protection can help minimise risk. • Protection measures: In the context of NHRI’s, protection measures are usually granted by a protection mechanism that can be housed within an NHRI,67 NHRIs may also support HRDs in requesting protection measures from other authorities who grant them (such as regional human rights bodies, or protection mechanisms independent of the NHRI). While these measures vary among national contexts, some common measures include: protective accompaniment, regular contact and visits with HRDs, trial monitoring, urgent appeals, public statements, emergency grants, and relocation initiatives. Protection mechanism case study: Where a specific protection mechanism exists, that is the entity granting protective measures. The mechanism of Mexico divides its measures into three: preventive measures, protection measures and urgent measures. Measures are granted to HRDs depending on the type and urgency of risk faced.68 • Preventive measures include: manuals, individual and collective self-protection courses and accompaniment of human rights observers and journalists. • Protection measures include: providing safe means of communication (phones, radio); installation of cameras, locks, alarms or other security devices in the work or home premises of a HRD; providing bulletproof and armoured cars. • Urgent measures include: evacuation, temporary relocation, bodyguards and security officers. C. Establish HRD focal point staff at NHRIs A common and effective way to incorporate an EWS into your work NHRI is through the establishment of an HRD Focal Point. An HRD focal point is a section within the NHRI (made up of one person, a group of people or a specific body) dedicated to analysing and working on promotion and protection of the rights of HRDs.69 The functions of a focal point vary, some include: • Monitoring the situation of HRDs, including risks to their security, as well as legal and other impediments to the creation and maintenance of a safe and conducive environment for their work.70 30 66 https://freedomhouse.org/programs/emergency-assistance-and-thematic-programs/lifeline-embattled-cso-assistance-fund 67 https://undocs.org/A/HRC/31/55 pars. 65, 95 68 http://www.oas.org/juridico/PDFs/mesicic5_mex_ane_12.pdf Art. 32-34 69 https://www.humanrights.dk/sites/humanrights.dk/files/media/document/Lorion%20Defining%20GHRFPs%20-%20 DIHR%202021%20Final.pdf p.5 70 https://undocs.org/A/HRC/25/55 par. 80