Prevention of Genocide

UN News/Srdjan Slavkovic

‘The value of human life is dissipating’

14 July 2023

Fresh allegations of crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur are the latest indication that the world is failing to live up to the promise of “never again” forged in the ashes of the Second World War.

Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, sat down with UN News’s Sandra Miller to warn against risk factors for atrocity crimes in a rising number of countries, including Sudan, as the brutal conflict between rival militaries continues there.

Genocide survivors at the Mwurire Genocide Site, in Rwanda. (1998)

UN Photo/Milton Grant

Recognize and act on warning signs of genocide, Guterres urges, honouring victims

9 December 2020

Human Rights

Social media platforms, technology companies, and religious and civil society leaders have a central role in combatting hate speech, “a clear warning sign” of genocide, the United Nations Secretary-General has said.

Adama Dieng, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, speaks with journalists during his visit to the Central African Republic. (October 2017)

UN Photo/Hervé Serefio

PROFILE: Taking a lead against genocide, ‘no society is immune’ warns Adama Dieng

18 August 2020

Human Rights

Adama Dieng assumed the position of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in 2012, after a long and distinguished career in law and human rights, stepping down from the post at the end of July.

UN Photo/Milton Grant

In a time of rising xenophobia, more important than ever to ratify Genocide Convention

30 November 2018

Human Rights

Speaking ahead of the UN Day commemorating victims of genocide, the UN chief has called for every country to ratify the Genocide Convention, which still has not been ratified by 45 UN Member States, despite being adopted at the General Assembly 70 years ago.

A wall of photos at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the site of infamous Security Prison S-21 and the Khmer Rouge's brutal treatment of detainees.

UN Photo/Mark Garten

Scourge of genocide remains a ‘threat and a reality’ today: UN human rights chief

13 September 2018

Human Rights

Genocide remains a “threat and a reality” in the 21st century, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Thursday, in an appeal to States to do more to act on the “warning signs” that often precede grave violations of international law.

A Muslim man grieves over his son’s grave in Vitez, Bosnia and Herzegovina (file photo).

UN Photo/John Isaac

'Genocide should not be part of our present or our future,' UN adviser says on day to honour victims

9 December 2017

Human Rights

The United Nations office that coordinates efforts on genocide prevention has launched an appeal for Member States to ratify the 1948 genocide convention by the end of 2018 if they haven't done so.

UNICEF/Kate Holt

Rape survivors should never face “prison of stigma”

15 May 2017

General News

Survivors of rape or sexual slavery should never again face “the prison of stigma” described by some of them as a “living death”, the acting UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, has said.

Adama Dieng, who is also the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, made the appeal to members of the Security Council during an open debate on “Sexual violence in conflict as a tactic of war and terrorism.”

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Prevention of Genocide