In the framework of the UN Charter, the General Assembly has the primary responsibility to promote and protect human rights. Where human rights violations are so widespread and systematic that they threaten international peace and security, responsibility falls to the Security Council. In many of today’s most serious human rights crises, however, a unified response from the Council has been challenging, bringing greater importance to the critical role the General Assembly can play in the prevention of and response to atrocity crimes.

“The Powers of the UN General Assembly to Prevent and Respond to Atrocity Crimes: A Guidance Document” provides a resource for member states, outlining a number of practical ways the General Assembly can act upon its powers to more robustly respond to atrocities.

On 3 June the Global Centre joined the permanent missions of Australia and Croatia to the UN and the Asia-Pacific Centre for R2P in hosting a virtual launch and discussion of the Guidance Document featuring remarks from:

• • • H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly
    • H.E. Mr. Ivan Šimonović, Permanent Representative of Croatia to the UN
    • Ms. Karen Smith, UN Special Adviser on R2P
    • Ms. Rebecca Barber, Research Fellow, Asia-Pacific Centre for R2P, and author of the Guidance Document
    • Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director, Global Centre for R2P
    • H.E. Mr. Mitchell Fifield, Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN

A full recording of the event is available below: