Responsibility to Protect

Responsibility to Protect

Responsibility to Protect

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". Article 3 affirms that "everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person"; Article 28 states that "Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized".

Theme in the news

Living up to our 'Responsibility to Protect' in Darfur

8/08/08
On the one-year anniversary of the UN resolution agreeing to make good on that obligation in the Darfur region of Sudan, authorizing a joint UN – African Union (UNAMID) force to support peacekeeping efforts, a report endorsed by 36 Human Rights groups calls the international community’s lack of contributions to the effort a “betrayal”.
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Q&A: Righting Human Wrongs

25/06/08

Does Every Human Have Rights?

"...We need to change how people think about human rights. We need to broaden that thinking, so that everybody who feels marginalised, excluded or fearful feels that they have human rights on their side. We haven’t quite gotten there yet. The Every Human Has Rights campaign is a people-power way of re-centering."

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Rally at CIVICUS World Assembly in the media

22/06/08

From STV.tv: Several hundred people have marched through Glasgow as part of a demonstration about human rights. Organisers are hoping the event will highlight opposition to the government's decision to allow terror suspects to be held for 42 days without charges being brought.

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Responsibility to Protect

Never Again!

The world came together to say "never again" in the aftermath of World War II, the Holocaust and the use of nuclear weapons by devising and affirming the UDHR. Yet in the past six decades, we have witnessed mass atrocities all around the globe. All of us share a responsibility to do whatever we can to help prevent and protect others from such violence.

We call this the Responsibility to Protect, or R2P

The concept of R2P was launched with the report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, The Responsibility to Protect, in 2001.

The world's heads of state and government unanimously adopted the principle of R2P in the UN World Summit Outcome Document in September 2005.

Read more about The Responsibility to Protect

Every person can make a difference

Live up to your Responsibility to Protect.

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has been created by key supporters from government, NGOs, and academia to ensure that this R2P doctrine is understood and put into practice by governments and at the United Nations. Its mission is to promote and catalyze international action to help countries to prevent or halt mass atrocities.

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Learn More About Our Responsibility to Protect

Living the principles of the Universal Declaration

Here are a few profiles of people who uphold the principles of the Universal Declaration through their work. If you have a story about the Responsibility to Protect, please share it with us here.

Aisha Abubakr Subaira Adam

Peace and Development Office Coordinator of the Community Development Association - standing up for human rights
Aisha Abubakr Subaira Adam is the peace and development office coordinator for the Community Development Association in Sudan. Formerly a member of parliament in Darfur, Ms. Adam is a member of the leading council of Darfur Forum for Peace Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence. She was a member of the gender expert support team and headed the power-sharing committee in the 7th round of the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Human Rights Activist and Figurehead for Burma's Struggle for Democracy - standing up for human rights
Since 1988, Suu Kyi has campaigned vigorously for a peaceful transition from military rule to a free, democratic Myanmar. She was elected to be Prime Minister of her country in 1990, but the ruling military junta defied the election and placed her under house arrest. Despite winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, her detention continues to this day.

Houda Malloum

Creating Radio for Refugee Women from Darfur - standing up for human rights
Houda Mahamat Malloum is a full-time host, reporter and producer at La Voix du Ouaddai, a community radio station in Abeche, Chad, set up by the non-profit Internews network to serverefugees from Darfur and local Chadians. As well as presenting the news at noon every day, Malloum produces Internews' weekly radio show, "She Speaks, She Listens." The program focuses on violence against women and girls, covering taboo subjects such as rape, female genital cutting and forced child marriage.