The seventh Informal Interactive Dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) was held in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 8 September 2015. One regional organization (the European Union, or EU) and sixty-nine member states delivered statements on behalf of eighty-nine countries regarding the report of the Secretary-General on A vital and enduring commitment: implementing the responsibility to protect (A/69/981-S/2015/500). For the second year in a row a statement was made on behalf of all 49 members of the cross-regional Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect. Four civil society organizations, including the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, also delivered statements.

Member states used the dialogue to reflect upon the progress and challenges in advancing and implementing R2P in the ten years since its adoption at the 2005 UN World Summit. The statements delivered were overwhelmingly positive, with particular attention given to priorities to advance the norm in the future, noting especially the priority attached to mass atrocity prevention. Member states also expressed concern about the dire situation facing civilians around the world, including in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The full meeting summary is available to download below.