Tenth Anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect: A focus on Prevention

Excellencies,
Dear speakers,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Welcome to today’s event marking the 10th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect.

I thank the Responsibility to Protect Core Group in Geneva composed of the Permanent Missions of Australia, Ghana, Hungary, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uruguay for organizing this very timely event with the support of the Graduate Institute and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.

The principle of the Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity was unanimously endorsed by world leaders at the 2005 UN World Summit. Ten years on, I am encouraged by the signs of support and the important presence of Member States, international organizations and civil society in today’s event discussing its implementation.

The Secretary-General’s recent reviews on Peace Operations, the Peacebuilding Architecture, and Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security provide important guidance on preparing today’s security architecture for the new challenges it faces. Implementing the recommendations of these reviews will also strengthen ongoing efforts to prevent and protect.

R2P has 3 pillars: Pillar one is the responsibility of all States to protect its own population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, pillar 2 is about the importance of prevention of such crimes and pillar 3 is about the need for the international community to take appropriate collective action in accordance with the UN Charter in extreme cases where a State is manifestly failing to protect its citizens from atrocities.

Investing in prevention is key. The Secretary General in his recent report on the Responsibility to Protect reminded us of three important challenges that we are still facing today: (1) Early warning mechanisms remain disconnected from early action. We must all work to identify atrocity crime risks, communicate policy options and ensure that adequate mechanisms exist to act immediately; (2) prevention is the exception rather than the rule, and (3) there is no analysis of which atrocity prevention tools work best.

These existing challenges are further complicated by the unprecedented scale on which non-State armed groups have resorted to atrocities to advance their objectives. Access to information and communications technology have allowed violent extremist ideology to spread further and more easily. Confronting such new challenges will require the international community to adapt its instruments of prevention and response.

Today’s event provides an excellent opportunity to discuss how we can further advance these challenges.

International Geneva is well placed to make an important contribution to further strengthen the R2P practice at different levels. Right from the outset of the discussion, the R2P concept aimed at bringing the concerns of the humanitarian and human rights communities closer together. Geneva is the international hub for both communities. The nuts and bolts work of both takes place here in this city.

Geneva provides a home to the most prominent humanitarian actors – such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration. These organizations send the frontline workers facing the real challenges on the ground as they provide essential support to alleviate humanitarian crisis. It was out of their experience that the Responsibility to Protect was born, gradually gaining support among the international community.

Early in the process that led to R2P, Geneva played an important role when the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty drafted their report in 2001. Consultations held here, in this city, helped shaping the concept as it moved away from the notion of a “right to intervene” to a “responsibility to protect”. This shift also emphasized more strongly the importance of prevention as a foundation of R2P. Many of the Geneva actors have serviced this ambitious goal since:

Such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which helps build and strengthening national structures that have a direct impact on the overall respect for human rights and the maintenance of the rule of law at country-level. It consolidates and strengthens the role which national human rights institutions can play in the promotion and protection of human rights. It also assists countries in mapping out national human rights action plans to improve the promotion and protection of human rights.

The Secretary-General’s Human Rights up Front Action Plan focuses on improving the United Nations capacity to respond to early warning signs, thereby enabling more effective prevention. This is an important initiative that also strengthens the actions of Geneva-based organizations.

The Human Rights Council is called to identify and address risk factors. It has invoked R2P in its resolutions and in the findings of various inquiry commissions. Overall, the Human Rights Council has a role to play in mainstreaming the Responsibility to Protect into the human rights machinery. This effort will have to be ongoing.

Geneva is also an important brokering place for preventive diplomacy and mediation efforts. Negotiations on Syria and Libya held in Geneva provided important forums to encourage actors to fulfil their Responsibility to Protect, warning them of the consequences of non-fulfilment.

Geneva’s strength is the wealth of its actors working to promote peace, rights and well-being – for all, rich and poor. The civil society community in Geneva has a strong focus on humanitarian and human rights issues. With its global and grass roots networks it is often key in pointing at early warning signs and asking for action to be taken.

I am pleased that the R2P topic has received such a prominent place during Geneva Peace Week which we are in the middle of. This week, we are seeing 41 events with 165 speakers representing 50 institutions. This, too, is an important sign of the manifold activities in Geneva to support global peace and protect people living in conflict-prone areas. To our colleagues working on R2P globally, we can send a strong message that Geneva stands ready to support this important agenda.

I thank you and wish you all a very fruitful discussion.