On Wednesday, 25 June, the UN General Assembly held a plenary meeting on “The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity” as part of the formal agenda of its 79th session.

The meeting opened with introductory remarks by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres. During his remarks the Secretary-General introduced his annual report on R2P titled “Responsibility to Protect: 20 years of commitment to principled and collective action.”

On the first day of the debate 25 states and the European Union spoke on behalf of 82 countries and one observer mission. During the debate the Permanent Representative of Morocco spoke on behalf of the Group of Friends of R2P. Joint statements were also delivered on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic States, CANZ countries, the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations and by France on behalf of itself and Mexico.

Text of the statements delivered during the debate is available via the UN Journal: 25 June (morning)

Full video of the debate is available below:

25 June (morning):