General Announcements - January 29, 2009

Secretary-General Releases Report on Implementing the Responsibility to Protect

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has released a report that says the best way to prevent the misuse of the “Responsibility to Protect” (RtoP) would be by fully developing a UN strategy, as well as standards, processes, tools, and practices for the RtoP concept.

As outlined at the 2005 World Summit, RtoP hinges on three pillars:

1. The responsibility of every state to protect its own population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity;
2. The responsibility of the international community to help states build the capacity to exercise this responsibility; and
3. The responsibility of the international community to take timely and decisive action if national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from these four crimes and violations.

The report, Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (UN Doc. A/63/677), outlines a three-pillar strategy for advancing the agenda mandated at the 2005 World Summit. The strategy stresses the value of prevention and, when it fails, of early and flexible response, tailored to the specific circumstances of each case.

The report may be read online in any of six languages. Please click your preferred language below to download a pdf:

Select your language: Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish