R2P Focal Points Initiative

In 2005 at the United Nations World Summit, states unanimously committed to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity by adopting the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). R2P affirmed an individual state’s primary responsibility to protect its population from these four crimes along with the collective international responsibility to take appropriate measures to help protect populations at risk.

In September 2010, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, in association with the governments of Denmark and Ghana, launched a Focal Points initiative to operationalize R2P at the annual Ministerial Meeting on the Responsibility to Protect held during the opening of the United Nations General Assembly session.

This initiative aims to institutionalize R2P at the national level and to build a Focal Points network to facilitate coordination at the international level. Governments were asked to designate a national Focal Point on R2P – a senior level official focused on the promotion and effective implementation of long-term R2P-oriented policies – and to support international cooperation on the issue through the creation of a formal network.

At the Ministerial Meeting, 11 of the 17 delegations announced the appointment of a national R2P Focal Point and expressed their support for regular meetings of a Focal Points network in order to improve inter-governmental coordination for mass atrocity prevention.

Building on this achievement, the governments of Costa Rica, Denmark and Ghana, in association with the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, co-hosted the first meeting of R2P Focal Points in May 2011. Thirty-one countries, representing all regions of the world, participated in this meeting. Participants agreed that the creation of an effective, cross-regional network of national Focal Points would make a real difference in facilitating protection of populations at risk. The meeting served as a springboard for developing this network. It also provided the participants with an opportunity to highlight conceptual questions and challenges. Participants recognized that, for the initiative to move forward, greater clarity was required regarding the role and responsibilities of national Focal Points and their global network.

In advance of the second formal meeting of this Focal Points Network, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the Stanley Foundation convened R2P Focal Points and other national representatives, UN mission ambassadors and experts, UN officials, and mass atrocity specialists for a preparatory workshop to address the challenges faced by individual R2P Focal Points and their developing global network. They gathered 24-26 February 2012, as part of the Stanley Foundation's 43rd United Nations Issues Conference.

Observations from the discussion are outlined in the following policy memo.

Focal Points Resources:

Policy Memo: Preparatory Workshop for the Second Meeting of the R2P Focal Points Network, organized by GCR2P and the Stanley Foundation, New York, 24 - 26 February 2012

Summary of the First  Meeting of National Focal Points on R2P, convened by Costa Rica, Denmark and Ghana, New York, 17 and 18 May 2011 

Joint press statement by the governments of Costa Rica, Denmark and Ghana
First Meeting of National Focal Points for the Responsibility to Protect, 18 May 2011

Summary of the 2010 Ministerial Meeting when the R2P Focal Points initiative was launched, 24 September 2010

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Past Issues:
R2P Monitor Issue 2, 15 March 2012
R2P Monitor Issue 1, 10 January 2012

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