Bujumbura: Budapest Centre signs MoU with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region of Africa for cooperation in the field of mass atrocities prevention

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) has been concerned with genocide prevention since its inception in 2004, and has taken the lead in implementing the Protocol for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity and All forms of Discrimination (2006). The Protocol is part of the Pact on Peace, Stability and Development, signed by Heads of State and Government of eleven ICGLR Member States on 29th November 2006. The Protocol is consistent with the 2004 Stockholm Conference, during which the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the creation of The Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG).

In collaboration with OSAPG and OHCHR, ICGLR organized a foundation seminar on 22-23th September 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, during which the Regional Committee for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity and All forms of Discrimination was established and it was later approved by the ICGLR Heads of State in December 2011 in Lusaka, Zambia. The work of the Regional Committee has currently evolved to include establishment of National Committees in each member state and development of program to build capacity and national and grassroots levels to effectively implement the protocol.

In conjunction with its operational body, the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, The Foundation for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, will contribute to a proactive engagement to preventing mass atrocities.

The Foundation of the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, also through its operational body, the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, will contribute to a pro-active engagement in preventing mass atrocities and to the institutionalization of the prevention obligations reflected in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

To this end, the Foundation will concentrate on contributing to bridging the gap between early warning and early action by setting up and applying an integrated warning-response support system and generating political consensus for early action at an international and regional level.

The Foundation for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (Foundation) recognises and wishes to collaborate with the leadership of ICGLR to consolidate the achievements, and increase capacities (contribute to build capacities) and implement the necessary programs to effectively address the challenges of genocide and mass atrocities in the Great Lakes Region.