Our Work
Since its inception in 2008, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has established itself as the leading authority on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and atrocity prevention.
Through timely and authoritative publications, strategic policy initiatives such as the Global Network of R2P Focal Points and advocacy with the UN and its member states in New York and Geneva, the Global Centre advances the implementation of R2P.
Advocacy at the United Nations
Building support among policymakers lies at the core of the Global Centre efforts. Central to that work is engagement with United Nations member states through their missions in New York and Geneva, as well as with the United Nations system more broadly.
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Amplifying the Voices of Affected Communities
The Global Centre engages with civil society, human rights defenders and survivor and victim communities as critical partners in our collective advocacy. We work to ensure their voices and expertise are centered in and substantively inform policy discussions and decision-making processes within and among governments and in multilateral spaces regarding the response to emerging or protracted atrocity situations.
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Events and Global Engagement
The Global Centre has identified working with emerging powers and regional bodies as an essential part of clarifying, institutionalizing and advancing R2P. Engagement with states through regional forums is an important part of bridging the knowledge gap between the UN and national capitals with regard to R2P.
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Global Network of R2P Focal Points
Launched in 2010, the Global Network of R2P Focal Points is comprised of governments and regional organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the Responsibility to Protect by appointing a senior level official responsible for the promotion of atrocity prevention within their national system.
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Justice and Accountability
Ending impunity for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing through criminal investigations and effective transitional justice processes, including truth commissions, reparations and memorialization, among other judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, is essential to the work of the Global Centre and to upholding R2P. Accountability can serve as a deterrent of future atrocity crimes and is an important foundation for achieving reconciliation, as well as lasting peace and stability.
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“The Global Centre is an indispensable resource for promoting R2P and mass atrocity prevention.”
Dr. Jennifer Welsh
Former UN Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect
Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect serves as the Secretariat for the Group of Friends (GoF) of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). The GoF serves as an informal inter-governmental platform for Permanent Missions to the United Nations in both New York and Geneva. The Group aims to promote dialogue and encourage UN member states to advance the effective prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
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Podcast: Expert Voices on Atrocity Prevention
Expert Voices on Atrocity Prevention is a podcast by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. The podcast features one-on-one conversations with practitioners from the field of human rights, conflict prevention, atrocity prevention and other related agendas. These conversations aim to provide a glimpse of the personal and professional side of how practitioners approach human rights protection and atrocity prevention.
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R2P's 20th Anniversary
September 2025 will mark 20 years since states gathered at the 2005 United Nations World Summit and unanimously adopted the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), establishing a global commitment to prevent and protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
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Trainings and Workshops
The Global Centre utilizes trainings, workshops and formal briefings on country situations to build the capacity of others to identify, confront and mobilize appropriate response to the risk of atrocity crimes. These courses and briefings enable policy makers, foreign service members, peacekeepers, civil society and other practitioners to improve their situational awareness and understand the context in which they are operating or the crises they are confronting through an atrocity prevention lens.
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