![]() ![]() ![]() States should join to share good practices and build an atrocity prevention community. Switzerland’s representative, noting his country was a member of the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect, also said that each country should identify mechanisms in accordance with its situation, noting that his country is working within the Global Action against Mass Atrocities to strengthen the dialogue between States and other actors to strengthen national prevention mechanisms and structures. In addition, Honduras also has included the topic of genocide and the prevention of mass atrocities in civil service training, and training for its armed forces, he said. His Government was also designing public policies to ensure socioeconomic inclusion and equality, with the full involvement of children and young people. Honduras’ representative, echoing that, affirmed that children and youth were at the heart of his country’s efforts to prevent atrocities. The most effective way to protect children and youth from atrocity crimes is by strengthening prevention and early warning mechanisms, with a whole-of-society approach that involves civil society organizations, including those led by youths. Malta’s representative cited the number of atrocity crimes which could be directed specifically against children and youths, including the war crime of enlisting children under the age of 15 to actively participate in hostilities and the crime of genocide for transferring children from one group to another, among others. In the ensuing debate, speakers, denouncing the atrocities experienced by children and youths around the world, also emphasized the need for prevention and early warning systems, but underscored the principle must be anchored at the national level. She urged Governments to make protecting children and youth from atrocity crimes a priority and accelerate its implementation with real and measurable outcomes. It also highlighted the ways, reasons and extent to which children and youths are targeted and impacted by those crimes, in both armed conflict and non-armed-conflict situation. ![]() This year’s report was dedicated to the special situation of children and youth in the context of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, she noted. Since then, Member States, the Secretariat and the Assembly have made progress in elaborating and operationalizing the responsibility to protect, and have elaborated frameworks for identifying risks, early warning models and institutional mechanisms for implementation. Member States’ commitment to uphold the responsibility to protect its populations, in particular children and youth, from crimes of atrocity, must be centred in prevention in order to make the principle a living reality, speakers stressed, as the General Assembly today held its first annual debate on the topic.Īlice Wairimu Nderitu, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, introducing the Secretary-General’s annual report on the issue (document A/76/844), recalled that since the first report in 2009, these documents have given the General Assembly a basis to consider the concept of the responsibility to protect, which was affirmed at the 2005 World Summit. ![]()
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