Responsibility to Protect

WFUNA and the Responsibility to Protect

After the Holocaust, the world vowed it would “never again” allow such extreme mass atrocity to take place. The commitment has, however, largely remained empty, with the 20th Century scarred by the killing fields of Cambodia, the machetes of Rwanda, the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia, the crimes against humanity in Kosovo, East Timor and now the ongoing nightmare in Darfur. The massive failure and lack of government action to protect the victims and prevent such mass atrocities has meant “never again” has gone unchecked again and again.

As an outcome of this failure, and as a step forward to adequately respond to genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, the international community pledged a new commitment and norm known as the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P).

Motivated by the desire to ensure we live up to our promise of “never again,” WFUNA has launched a 3-year program to support the R2P norm — engaging and encouraging civil society to mobilize and push for the political will in their country and internationally — to prevent and act in the face of mass atrocities. WFUNA will empower civil society with tools for holding governments accountable in the face of mass atrocity; increase knowledge and awareness of R2P, expand media coverage and the political debate surrounding R2P issues and provide effective methods for information dissemination and advocacy.  

Read how WFUNA is honoring Dag Hammarskjold’s commitment to peace through their R2P program.

WFUNA is grateful for the support and contributions made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden to launch our R2P project. We would also like to thank our partners the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect, Global Action to Prevent War and Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect for working with us on promoting R2P.