On Monday, 17 May, the UN General Assembly opened 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 75th session.

The President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, opened the debate followed by introductory remarks by the Chef de Cabinet of the UN Secretary-General, Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti.

The debate took place over two days, during which 59 states and the European Union spoke on behalf of 88 countries. During the debate the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica spoke on behalf of 53 members of the Group of Friends of R2P. The Permanent Representative of Croatia introduced UN General Assembly Resolution A/75/277 on “The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity” on behalf of a core group of countries.

The meeting concluded with a vote on UN General Assembly Resolution A/75/277. The resolution was adopted with 115 states voting in favor, 28 abstaining and 15 voting against. With an overwhelming majority of states voting for the historic resolution – the first in the General Assembly since 2009 – UN member states decided to include R2P on the annual agenda of the General Assembly and to formally request that the Secretary-General report annually on the topic.

Text of the statements delivered during the debate is available via the UN Journal: 17 May morning, 17 May afternoon, 18 May. An unofficial UN summary of the first day of proceedings is also available.

Full video of the debate is available below:

Part One, 17 May morning session

Part Two, 17 May afternoon session

Part Three, 18 May