R2P Resources

The Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing has emerged as an important global principle since the adoption of the UN World Summit Outcome Document in 2005. In recent years the international commmunity has accepted R2P both conceptually and in practice, including by invoking the principle in UN Security Council resolutions.

The Responsibility to Protect - known as R2P - refers to the obligation of states toward their populations and toward all populations at risk of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes.

This international norm stipulates that:

* Every state has the Responsibility to Protect its popultions from the four mass atrocity crimes

* The wider international community has the responsibility to encourage and assist individual states in meeting that responsibility.

* If a state is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the international community must be prepared to take appropriate collective action, in a timely and decisive manner and in accordance with the UN Charter.

These principles originated in a 2001 report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty and were endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document paragraphs 138 and 139.

The UN Secretary-General released a report in January 2009 entitled Implementing the Responsibility to Protect. In a July 2009 General Assembly Debate, UN Member States overwhelmingly reaffirmed the 2005 Commitment and passed a consensus resolution taking note of the Secretary-General’s report. Read more about the historic debate here. In this document the Secretary-General detailed what is now referred to as the "three pilars" of R2P implementation.

The Secretary-General released two additional reports in July 2010 and July 2011 in advance of General Assembly Debates on the Responsibility to Protect. The 2010 report entitled Early Warning, assessment and the responsibility to protect addresses the early warning capacities and gaps within UN institutions. The 2011 report entitled The role of regional and subregional arrangements in implementing the responsibility to protect focuses on the mechanisms and capacities that regional organizations possess for effective regional-global collaboration for prevention of mass atrocities.

The Security Council has invoked R2P in a number of instances. In 2006, while addressing the protection of civilians in Resolution 1674, the Security Council cited R2P reaffirming "the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document regarding the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity." In 2011 the Security Council invoked the Responsibility to Protect in a number of Resolutions: 1970 and 1973 on the situation in Libya, 1975 on the situation in Côte d'Ivoire, 1996 on the situation in South Sudan, and 2014 on the situation in Yemen. In 2012 the Security Council invoked the Responsibility to Protect in a presidential statement on the situation in South Sudan on 9 January.

Essential GCR2P Resources

R2P Background Briefing

GCR2P Documents

R2P Document Resource Centre

Essential R2P Links

Office of the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect

International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect

Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Responsibility to Protect Student Coalition