A/HRC/28/76 55. In Africa, the initiatives implemented include Africa Humanitarian Action; the Programme of Action for the Implementation of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction; the African Union Commission, which facilitates and coordinates the implementation of the Regional Strategy, the Programme of Action and the Hyogo Framework for Action; the Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction; periodic high-level meetings of the African Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment; regional economic communities; and the Planning and Coordinating Agency of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). 56. Important initiatives in Asia include Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. 57. In Latin America, several intergovernmental bodies have been established, including the Organization of American States, with the working group of the Inter-American Network for Disaster Mitigation; and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, with the Risk, Emergency and Disaster Task Force Inter-Agency Work Group for Latin America and the Caribbean. The following mechanisms and forums have also been created: the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency; the Ibero-American General Secretariat; the Coordination Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America; and the Comprehensive Risk Management Policy for Central America. 58. In Europe, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, operated within the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, was established to ensure a coordinated, more rapid response to disasters both inside and outside Europe, using the resources of the 32 countries participating in the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism. VII. Good practices A. National legal frameworks and mechanisms 59. Governments should not use humanitarian assistance for political purposes. Similarly, political parties should not take advantage of an emergency to better position themselves among the population. Political patronage should be avoided in post-disaster and post-conflict situations; affected populations, like any other individual or community, continue to have rights and to be voters. In this regard, the responses received from Member States to the questionnaire concerning their legal frameworks and the mechanisms for responding to emergencies resulting from disasters or conflicts from a rights-based approach are described below. 60. Slovakia is working to ensure that the Act on State Security in times of War and Hostilities, Martial Law and Emergency State allows for the distribution of vitally important products and goods to citizens affected by a crisis. 61. In Colombia, Law No. 1523 stipulates that humanitarian assistance must be provided on the basis of the principles of equality, timeliness, relevance and effectiveness. Article 1 of the law stipulates that all individuals are to receive the same support and the same treatment in situations of disaster and danger. A manual on the standardization of humanitarian assistance details more principles. 62. In Chile, the national civil protection and emergency system is based on the Constitution of the State. To enforce the guarantees enshrined in the system, particularly with regard to disasters, a number of relevant laws and regulations have been formulated. 16