Online Library - Documents: RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

UN Office for Genocide Prevention and the R2P

Founding Documents:

2001 Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty on The Responsibility to Protect
2004 Report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change on A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility (A/59/565).
2005 Report of the Secretary-General on In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security, and Human Rights for All (A/59/2005)
2005 World Summit Outcome Document, A/RES/60/1, paragraphs 138-140


Secretary-General’s Reports

2009 Report of the Secretary-General on Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/63/677)
2010 Report of the Secretary-General on Early Warning, Assessment, and the Responsibility to Protect (A/64/864)
2011 Report of the Secretary-General on The Role of Regional and Subregional Arrangements In Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/65/877-S/2011/393)
2012 Report of the Secretary-General on The Responsibility To Protect: Timely and Decisive Response (A/66/874-S/2012/578)
2013 Report of the Secretary-General on The Responsibility to Protect: State Responsibility and Prevention (A/67/929-S/2013/399)
2014 Report of the Secretary-General on Fulfilling Our Collective Responsibility: International Assistance and the Responsibility To Protect (A/68/947-S/2014/449)
2015 Report of the Secretary-General on A Vital and Enduring Commitment: Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/69/981-S/2015/500)
2016 Report of the Secretary-General on Mobilising collective action: the next decade of the responsibility to protect (A/70/999–S/2016/620)
2017 Report of the Secretary-General on Implementing the Responsibility to Protect: Accountability for Prevention (A/71/1016-S/2017/556)
2018 Report of the Secretary-General on Responsibility to protect: from early warning to early action (A/72/884-S/2018/525)
2019 Report of the Secretary-General on Responsibility to protect: lessons learned for prevention (A/73/898-S/2019/463)
2020 Report of the Secretary-General on Prioritizing prevention and strengthening response: women and the responsibility to protect (A/74/964 - S/2020/501)

Resolutions by UN organs

General Assembly

The Responsibility to Protect (A/RES/63/308)
Resolution 75/277 (The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity) A/RES/75/277. General Assembly. 2021


Human Rights Council

Fifteenth anniversary of the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, as enshrined in the 2005 World Summit Outcome - 2020 Resolution on the responsibility to protect (A/HRC/44/L.12)


Resolutions and reports by other organisations

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Resolution 117 (28 November 2007), on Strengthening the Responsibility to Protect in Africa
European Parliament Recommendation to the European Council (18 April 2013) on the UN principle of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (2012/2143(INI))
Inter-Parliamentary Union Resolution (27 March 2013) on Enforcing the Responsibility to Protect: The Role of Parliament in Safeguarding Civilians’ Lives
2011 Final Report of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), Study Group on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP)
2014 Report of the High-Level Panel on the Responsibility to Protect in Southeast-Asia on Mainstreaming the Responsibility to Protect in Southeast Asia: Pathway Towards a Caring ASEAN Community


Articles by the Special Advisers

"The Responsibility to Protect" by Ivan Šimonović (Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect). Published in UN Chronicle, Vol. LIII No. 4 2016, December 2016
“From Commitment to Action: The Enduring Importance of the Responsibility to Protect” by Adama Dieng (Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide) and Jennifer Welsh (Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect). Published in "The Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme Discussion Papers vol. III", 2015


Global Centre for R2P

R2P Monitor, Issue 53, 15 September 2020
Summary: Atrocity Prevention and Outcomes of the Human Rights Council’s 45th Session
Resources of resolutions, statements and other official documents that reference the Responsibility to Protect.
What is R2P?
R2P Monitor, Issue 58, 1 September 2021
R2P and Holistic Approaches to Peace and Peace Processes

Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Climate change and atrocity crimes: the challenge in the Pacific
APR2P Reports: https://r2pasiapacific.org/apr2p-reportsGenocide and Crimes Against Humanity in Xinjiang? Applying the Legal Tests
Using Universal Jurisdiction to Combat Impunity for Atrocity Crimes
COVID-19 and Atrocity Crime Prevention in the Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific Countries at the 2019 UN General Assembly Plenary Meeting on the Responsibility to Protect
Global Responsibility to Protect Journal (2020, vol III)
Policy Briefs Eg. Women in International Security: The Value of a Feminist Foreign Policy




Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (CCR2P)

Fifteen Years in the Making: Reflections and Lessons Learned from the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, October 2020
R2PLive Working Paper Series, 2015


Adams, Simon. “IF NOT NOW, WHEN?”: The Responsibility to Protect, the Fate of the Rohingya and the Future of Human Rights. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, 2019

Adams, Simon. Myanmar’s deadly coup and the responsibility to protect. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, 2021

“MYANMAR AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT”. Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. 2021

UN Human Rights Council Elections for 2022-2024 and the Responsibility to Protect. 2021