Description
This paper explores the challenges faced in preventing and responding to atrocities in the UN system. With a focus on the work of the Office for Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, it highlights the obstacles faced by the special advisers and their team in fulfilling their mandate. It shows that, despite the centrality of the work of the special advisers to the core business of the UN, the evidence suggests that theirs are not mandates that are regarded as priorities by either member states, the wider UN system or the Secretary-General. While the office has contributed to preventing atrocity crimes in certain situations, its role continues to be marginalized in the wider UN system, with concerns about warnings about impending atrocities seen as alarmist and interfering with more powerful UN actors’ political priorities. In light of the increase in the commission of atrocity crimes globally, accompanied by a concerning rise in hate speech and incitement to violence, identity-based discrimination and intolerance, this does not bode well for the organisation’s future ability to prevent or respond to atrocity crimes.
