Responsibility to Protect News
NEW! CWS is working with the University of Queensland, Oxfam and Austcare to launch the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.
Five international organisations - International Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch, the Institute for Global Policy, Oxfam International and Refugees International, have announced the 2008 launch of a Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, to be hosted at Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies in New York. The Patron’s of the Centre include former Secretary General Kofi Annan, former president of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and Global Elder Desmond Tutu, among others, and its International Advisory Board is Chaired by Gareth Evans, former Australian Foreign Minister and President of International Crisis Group. The Centre will have associated regional centre’s around the world, and CWS is proud to announce its supporting role in the February 2008 launch of the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. Click here for a link to the Global Centre’s site, and list of other associated centres.
The Associated Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (R2PAP), with offices at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and planned for the University of Chulalongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand, will begin operations in early 2008. The Centre will edit a flagship global journal on the advancement and realization of R2P, launch three major research programmes in its first year, conduct R2P policy analysis and develop region-specific initiatives, and will utilize the insights of its esteemed Advisory Board to carry out targeted advocacy and outreach operations in the Asia-Pacific. The Advisory Board is composed of members from key regional countries, including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Canada and Australia, and will play an active role in shaping Centre policy, research and advocacy.
Beginning with a 3 day conference and launch event in February 2008, the Centre will become a focal point for R2P in the Asia-Pacific. It will bring together politicians, NGOs, government agencies and academics to develop viable regional policies and facilitate joint-protection initiatives based within a uniquely Asian perspective. Each of the Centre’s three research programmes will develop a practical and vital tool for effective R2P implementation worldwide; a workable Early Warning Mechanism for predicting acts of genocide and mass atrocities, a Protection Handbook for integrating civilian, military, non-government and political efforts to protect civilians in armed conflict, and a definitive Global Audit live-database, reporting the status of R2P implementation around the world. These programs will collectively form R2PAP’s niche specialty: a practical toolkit for R2P implementation.
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