Secretary-General appoints special adviser to focus on responsibility to protect

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Edward Luck of the United States as a Special Adviser who will focus on the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Currently Vice President and Director of Studies of the International Peace Academy and Director of Columbia University’s Center on International Organizations, Mr. Luck will serve at the Assistant Secretary-General level on a part-time basis.

Agreed to by world leaders in 2005, the responsibility to protect holds States responsible for shielding their own populations from genocide and other major human rights abuses and requires the international community to step in if this obligation is not met.

“Mr. Luck’s primary role will be conceptual development and consensus building, to assist the General Assembly to continue consideration of this crucial issue,” UN Spokesperson Michele Montas said at a press briefing in New York.

Towards this end, the Secretary-General has asked Mr. Luck to help him develop proposals, through a broad consultative process, to be considered by the UN membership.

In his new role, Mr. Luck will be working closely with Mr. Ban’s Special Adviser for Prevention of Genocide, Francis Deng, given the complementary nature of their work.

Before joining Columbia University, Mr. Luck was Founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of International Organization, a research centre jointly established by New York University and Princeton University.

He has also played a key role in the UN reform process and served as head of the UN Association of the USA.