R2P in Focus, No. 20, February 2019 No Images? Click here R2P in Focus R2P in Focus is a monthly publication from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect designed to highlight recent events and political developments concerning the prevention of mass atrocities. The 2019 Evans-Sahnoun Lecture on R2P On 30 January the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations, in cooperation with the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, co-hosted the Evans-Sahnoun Lecture on R2P. This event featured a keynote address delivered by H.E. Mr. Eamon Gilmore, EU Special Envoy for the peace process in Colombia and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland. His address, entitled, "Making peace, overcoming conflict, and R2P: From the local to the global," focused on how to overcome international failures in Syria and Myanmar and called upon other UN bodies, including UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council, as well as regional organizations, to take the lead in responding to atrocities. Reflecting on his experiences in Northern Ireland and Colombia, Mr. Gilmore highlighted the importance of political courage to ending atrocities and conflict. Before the lecture, Professor The Hon. Gareth Evans delivered a tribute to the late Ambassador Mohamed Shanoun, his co-chair on the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty and an instrumental figure in the creation of R2P. Professor Evans and H.E. Mr. Gilmore were then joined by Ms. Karen Smith, the newly-appointed UN Special Adviser on R2P, for a panel discussion. H.E. Ms. Geraldine Byrne Nason, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN, delivered closing remarks. The Evans-Sahnoun Lecture on R2P was initiated by the Global Centre to honor the contributions made by Professor The Hon. Gareth Evans and Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun to the development of the Responsibility to Protect. The lecture series provides an opportunity for eminent public figures to share their experiences in the field of mass atrocity prevention, international diplomacy and human rights. Previous distinguished speakers have included H.E. Mr. Jan Eliasson, Dr. José Ramos-Horta, Ms. Navi Pillay, Dr. Michael Ignatieff, Lieutenant-General the Hon. Roméo A. Dallaire and the Rt Hon. Lord Christopher Patten. Ms. Karen Smith appointed as UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect On 20 December UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Ms. Karen Smith as the new Special Adviser on R2P. Ms. Smith replaces Mr. Ivan Šimonović, who served with distinction between 2016 and 2018. The Global Centre welcomes Ms. Smith’s appointment and looks forward to working with her. "If Not Now, When?": The Responsibility to Protect, the Fate of the Rohingya and the Future of Human Rights On 10 January the Global Centre released the eighth installment of its Occasional Paper Series, "'If Not Now, When?': The Responsibility to Protect, the Fate of the Rohingya and the Future of Human Rights." In this occasional paper, Dr. Simon Adams tests the resilience of the international community's commitment to defending human rights and upholding its responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocity crimes. The paper highlights the failure to respond to patterns of discrimination that eventually led to a genocide in Myanmar (Burma) during 2017 and also draws attention to other situations, such as in the Gambia, when the international community seized the moment to respond in a timely and decisive manner to an emerging threat. 9th Annual Meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points The ninth annual meeting of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on 13 and 14 May 2019. The meeting will be co-hosted by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission and the Global Centre. Any Other Business
2019 elected members of the UN Security Council and the Human Rights CouncilPhoto Source: © UN Photo/Manuel Elias Photo Source: ©UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré On 1 January five member states began their elected term on the UN Security Council while nineteen member states began their term on the Human Rights Council. Currently 9 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council and 20 of the 47 members of the Human Rights Council are also members of the UN Group of Friends of R2P. For more information on these new additions to both Councils, see our profiles below. Connect with us |