Statement on behalf of the NB8 countries by H.E. Andrejs Pildegovičs, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Latvia
at the UN General Assembly: Responsibility to Protect and the Prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
26 June 2023, New York
Mr. President,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the eight Nordic-Baltic countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and my own country Latvia.
We would like to join those thanking the Secretary-General for the 15th thematic report entitled “Development and the Responsibility to Protect: Recognizing and Addressing Embedded Risks and Drivers of Atrocity Crimes”. We fully support his recommendations, including the one to continue deliberations on the role of development in the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We will share the present report with development actors in our own systems to further strengthen the nexus between R2P and development in practice.
We welcome today’s opportunity to discuss the new R2P report with the UN Special Adviser on R2P. We underscore the importance of the Special Adviser on R2P’s regular presence in New York to help advance the implementation of R2P together with both UN member states and the UN secretariat.
As we navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing world, we reaffirm our commitment to the essential principle of responsibility to protect. Today, violent conflicts and serious human rights abuses continue to plague all parts of the world. This includes an unprovoked war of aggression against a fellow UN member by the Russian Federation. Every day we witness the suffering of innocent civilians who yearn for peace and face atrocities. As members of the UN, we have a shared responsibility to prevent and respond to acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. It is in times like these that R2P demands our attention, our active contributions, and our unwavering resolve.
We call on the Secretary-General’s two Special Advisers on R2P and Genocide Prevention and their joint Office to develop and share practical recommendations on atrocity prevention that provide Member States and the UN organs with concrete, timely and practical advice on how to better implement the R2P and genocide prevention when atrocity risks emerge or atrocity crimes are committed in specific countries.
We also call on the Office to develop and share regular updates about the root causes and warning signs of new atrocity crimes. Practical examples will help increase our understanding on how to more effectively translate the R2P principle into concrete action and provide new opportunities to collaborate and to prevent them in the first place.
Moreover, we must recognize the vital role of regional organizations in implementing the three pillars of the responsibility to protect. Regional cooperation can contribute to effective early warning, rapid response, and long-term stabilization efforts to help prevent new atrocities. Member States must work hand in hand with regional bodies to address the recommendations contained in the report before us.
Finally, looking ahead, we take this opportunity to stress the importance of a forward-looking assessment of the state of R2P and its implementation both at the national, regional and global level as preparation of the 20th anniversary of the World Summit Outcome Document in 2025.
I thank you!