To mark the 20th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which was unanimously adopted at the 2005 UN World Summit, the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and R2P released an interview series with experts on human rights and atrocity prevention. H.E. Alicia Guadalupe Buenrostro Massieu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN in New York, reflects on the essence of the responsibility to protect on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, recalling the Franco-Mexican initiative in this regard. Her key messages to the international community included: “The collective suffering of innocent people is never acceptable. It demands that we go beyond rhetoric, that we take action to prevent atrocities and protect civilians through timely diplomacy, guided by early warning and rooted in the voices and needs of those most at risk.”