A/HRC/25/55 most of these institutions have advisory functions. Governments should therefore work proactively to implement these recommendations, and follow-up should be tracked and evaluated. D. Effective protection policies and mechanisms, including public support for the work of defenders 84. The Special Rapporteur has advocated for the use of public policies and specific institutional mechanisms to provide protection when it is considered necessary to guarantee a safe and enabling environment for defenders. 85. During her tenure, the Special Rapporteur has focused extensively on the security challenges faced by human rights defenders in the conduct of their activities and has issued recommendations regarding the development of protection programmes (A/HRC/13/22). She has repeatedly underlined that the State has an obligation to protect human rights defenders, investigate violations and prosecute the perpetrators. This obligation extends to acts and omissions of non-State actors. 86. In an attempt to delegitimize their work and activities, defenders are often branded enemies of the State or terrorists. This stigmatization makes defenders even more vulnerable to attacks, especially by non-State actors. Therefore, as part of protection policy, it is of crucial importance that the work and role of defenders be publicly acknowledged by State officials at the highest level. The Special Rapporteur believes that a public acknowledgment of defenders’ work could contribute to providing their work with due recognition and legitimacy. 87. The Special Rapporteur is very pleased to note that, in Council resolution 22/6, States are urged to create a safe and enabling environment where human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity. States are also urged therein to publicly acknowledge the legitimate role of human rights defenders and the importance of their work. 88. The Special Rapporteur has presented a set of guidelines that she believes are essential for the development of protection programmes. Firstly, human rights defenders should be consulted throughout the setting up or review of protection programmes and the structure of such programmes should be defined by law. Protection programmes should include an early warning system in order to anticipate and trigger the launch of protective measures. It should also assess the safety of the defenders’ family members and relatives. Security and law enforcement officials involved in protection programmes should receive specific training on human rights and gender issues. The physical protection of defenders should not be outsourced to third parties unless these have received specific training. Furthermore, adequate financial resources should be allocated to protection programmes. 89. As an example of a good practice, the Special Rapporteur commends the adoption of a law and creation of a protection mechanism for defenders and journalists in Mexico in 2012. The law provides a legal basis for the coordination between the government agencies responsible for the protection of defenders and journalists. It defines an extraordinary process for emergency response in less than 12 hours. It also includes collaboration agreements with state-level governments in order to ensure their participation in the mechanism. Furthermore, it establishes a complaints procedure and ensures that public officials who do not implement the measures ordered by the mechanism will be legally sanctioned. The new mechanism also ensures the participation of civil society organizations in its decision-making processes and guarantees the right of the beneficiary to participate in the analysis of his/her risk and the definition of his/her protective measures. 14