Prevention of Genocide

A/HRC/RES/28/34View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2008–2026

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/61/23

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/HRC/RES/61/23	Prevention of genocide	4,207	91%Compare
2024	A/HRC/RES/55/13	Prevention of genocide	4,270	85%Compare
2022	A/HRC/RES/49/9	Prevention of genocide	4,349	86%Compare
2020	A/HRC/RES/43/29	Prevention of genocide	3,895	64%Compare
2018	A/HRC/RES/37/26	Prevention of genocide	2,853	81%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2019–2023

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2023	A/HRC/53/45	Prevention of genocide report of the Secretary-General		A/HRC/RES/49/9
2019	A/HRC/41/24	Prevention of genocide report of the Secretary-General		A/HRC/RES/37/26

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 subjects

Crime Victims Focal Points Genocide Prevention Human Rights International Cooperation International Days State Responsibility

What’s in this document?

26 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the significance of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as an effective international instrument for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide;

Reiterates the responsibility of each individual State to protect its population from genocide, which entails the prevention of such a crime, including incitement to it, through appropriate and necessary means;

Encourages Member States to build their capacity to prevent genocide through the development of individual expertise and the creation of appropriate offices within Governments to strengthen the work on prevention;

Encourages States to consider the appointment of focal points on the prevention of genocide, who could cooperate and exchange information and best practices among themselves and with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, relevant United Nations bodies and with regional and subregional mechanisms;

Expresses its appreciation to all States that have ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and in particular to those States that have done so since the adoption by the Human Rights Council of its resolution 22/22;

Calls upon States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to consider doing so as a matter of high priority and, where necessary, to enact national legislation in conformity with the provisions of the Convention;

Stresses the importance of enhanced international cooperation, including through the United Nations system and regional organizations, aimed at fostering the principles enshrined in the Convention;

Calls upon all States, in order to deter future occurrences of genocide, to cooperate, including through the United Nations system, in strengthening appropriate collaboration among existing mechanisms that contribute to the early detection and prevention of massive, serious and systematic violations of human rights that, if not halted, could lead to genocide;

Recognizes the important role of the Secretary-General in contributing to the prompt consideration of cases of early warning or prevention, as mandated by the Security Council in its resolution 1366 (2001) of 30 August 2001, and the functions of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide who, in accordance with his mandate, collects existing information, in particular from within the United Nations system, liaises with the United Nations system on activities for the prevention of genocide and works to enhance the capacity of the United Nations to analyse and manage information relating to genocide or related crimes;

Requests all Governments to cooperate fully with the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in the performance of his work, to furnish all relevant information requested and to react promptly to his urgent appeals;

Underlines the important role of the United Nations human rights system, including that of the Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant special procedures and treaty bodies in addressing the challenge of collating information on massive, serious and systematic violations of human rights, thereby contributing to a better understanding and early warning of complex situations that might lead to genocide;

Reiterates the importance of its universal periodic review mechanism, which is an important instrument for advancing human rights, and invites States to include, where appropriate, the information on the prevention of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in their national reports;

Urges all States to implement accepted universal periodic review recommendations related to the prevention of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity;

Encourages the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the High Commissioner to further enhance the systematic exchange of information between their offices and between the Special Adviser and all relevant special procedures, including those concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic, racial or religious groups, as outlined in article II of the Convention, and to continue collaboration with relevant international, regional and subregional organizations, national human rights institutions and civil society;

Reiterates the importance, when addressing complex situations that might lead to genocide as defined in the Convention, of a prompt and comprehensive examination of a set of multiple factors, including legal factors and possible warning signs as identified in, inter alia, the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Five-Point Action Plan and the new framework of analysis for atrocity crimes developed by the Office of the Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect, such as the existence of groups at risk, the massive, serious and systematic violation of human rights, the resurgence of systematic discrimination and the prevalence of expressions of hate speech targeting persons belonging to national, ethnic, racial or religious groups, especially if they are uttered in the context of an actual or potential outbreak of violence;

Encourages States to make use of appropriate international and regional forums to address the issue of prevention of genocide, including, inter alia, the annual meetings of regional and thematic organizations and their related human rights machinery dedicated to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;

Invites Member States and regional and subregional organizations to look at the examples of best practices of prevention of genocide developed in other regions, where appropriate, taking into account their specific regional and national circumstances, with the aim of exchanging experiences and good practices in order to strengthen prevention measures, including early warning mechanisms and forms of cooperation;

Encourages Governments, in cooperation with international and regional organizations and civil society, while promoting human rights education activities, to continue to disseminate knowledge of the principles of the Convention, paying particular attention to the principles of prevention;

Emphasizes the important role that education, including human rights education, can play in genocide prevention, and further encourages Governments to promote, as appropriate, educational programmes and projects that contribute to the prevention of genocide;

Takes note of the provision of training and technical assistance to Member States by the United Nations to strengthen early warning mechanisms for the prevention of genocide, as well as other prevention capacities, and encourages Member States to consider requesting such assistance, if required;

Invites States as a preventive measure to provide appropriate ways, which may include the establishment of national days of remembrance of victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, which will ensure that such horrendous crimes are never forgotten and provide an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the past and to create a safer future;

Recommends that the General Assembly designate 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of Genocide in order to raise awareness of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide;

Invites the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to continue to execute the activities under his mandate, including in the follow-up to the present resolution, by providing States with guidance, assistance and follow-up, upon their request;

Invites the Special Adviser to an interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council at its thirty-first session on the progress made in discharging his duties;

Requests the Secretary-General to draw up a roster of focal points and networks on the prevention of genocide with updated information from Member States;

Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in accordance with its programme of work.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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