Ljubljana, 10 May 2017 – The Ministry hosted the third European R2P Focal Points Meeting devoted to an exchange of information, experience and good practices in applying the ‘responsibility to protect’ principle.
Responsibility to protect means that all countries are obliged to protect their people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity on their territory, while the international community is responsible for helping them. Slovenia has been a staunch advocate of the responsibility to protect since this principle was adopted at the 2005 World Summit, and this is why it is hosting the third meeting of the European R2P Focal Points – people responsible for promoting R2P in the government structures of European countries.
In addition to government representatives, the meeting was attended by Dr Ivan Šimonović, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, Prof. Yehuda Bauer, Honorary Chairman of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Dr Simon Adams, Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, representatives of the European External Action Service and observers from international NGOs specialising in R2P.
Among other topics, the participants discussed the UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on the Responsibility to Protect, were acquainted with the new R2P manual that is being prepared by the New-York based Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, exchanged relevant experience and considered the recommendations for future action in preventing developments that might escalate into genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The conclusions of the meeting will also be presented to participants at the academic conference entitled “Responsibility to protect in theory and practice” scheduled to take place on 11 May at the Faculty of Law of Ljubljana University.
The meeting was organised under the framework of the Bled Strategic Forum.