The following statement was delivered by the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect during the third informal thematic consultations on “Frameworks for a peaceful world – promoting peace, international law and digital cooperation” as a follow-up to the report of the UN Secretary-General entitled “Our Common Agenda,” during the General Assembly’s 76th session.

 The Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect, consisting of 54 members and this year co-chaired by Botswana, Costa Rica and Croatia, would like to reaffirm its commitment to paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, namely the Responsibility to Protect populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Atrocity prevention and the effective implementation of the Responsibility to Protect agenda can contribute to fulfilling the Secretary-General’s Common Agenda’s core values of promoting peace, investing in prevention and embracing a comprehensive vision of human rights. At a time when more than 80 million people remain displaced as result of armed conflict, atrocities and persecution, we need to redouble our efforts to create a better, more sustainable, peaceful future for our people and planet.