 Good morning everyone and welcome to the U.S. Institute of Peace and thank you for joining us for a conversation on the UN approach to Preventing atrocities. I am Philippe Le Roux Martin. I'm the director for governance justice and security here at USIP I'll have the honor today of welcoming Alice Warimu and the retube special advisor on the prevention of genocide For those of you who may not be as familiar with USIP USIP was established by the US Congress in 1984 as an independent nonpartisan National institution dedicated to preventing mitigating and helping resolve violent conflict abroad Throughout the Institute's history We have supported us efforts to prevent and respond to mass atrocities including in 2009 when we co-chair the genocide prevention task force Which has provided the broad framework for US atrocity prevention and response policy Over the past year USIP has re-energized and expanded this role to address indicators of rising risk of mass atrocities To protect civilians and to hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable The office of the special advisor on the prevention of genocide plays a critical role in strengthening the UN's ability to prevent and respond to atrocities including providing Early warning on high-risk atrocity situations and recommending measures to mitigate atrocity risk The office also engages member states on issues such as hate speech and genocide denial Core indicators of rising atrocity risk and works in partnership with member states and civil society To develop plans to mitigate those risks This work is central to the UN's ability to prevent atrocities and to protect vulnerable civilian populations So we're very pleased today to have miss and the retu here to talk about her work And the work that her office is doing and the ways in which she supports the UN in better protecting civilian populations Miss and there to is not a new comer to USIP We've been working together with miss and the retu and her teams throughout the years And it is a pleasure to have her Hear back at one of her many homes around the world and we're extremely pleased to be able to have her Witness with us today She's a recognized voice in the field of peace building and violence prevention Having led as mediator and senior advisor in reconciliation processes She also served as commissioner of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in Kenya as well as founding member and co-chair of the Uyano platform for peace a prevention agency linking early warning to early response She was also one of the founders of community voices for peace and pluralism Which is a network of African women professionals preventing Transforming and solving violent ethnic racial and religious conflicts worldwide Widely published. She is the recipient of numerous awards Recognizing her commitment to peaceful conflict transformation throughout Africa and her innovative approach to mediation Our online viewers are welcome to join in the discussion using the chat box on our event web page and the hashtag USIP atrocity prevention So I'm very pleased to now turn the floor to miss and the retu for her remarks Thank you very much to USIP For having me again This is the first time I'm coming to USIP in this capacity, but I've been here several times before and I do know that USIP has provided opportunities for me and others To voice Quite a number of issues and so really I'm glad to be here today so I appreciate the important work of USIP which I know quite well and In my new capacity as a special advisor for the prevention of genocide, which is not so new because I've been around now for two years My role and that of my office is to act as a catalyst to raise alum to the secretary general and through him to the security council and other relevant actors on Situations where there is a risk of genocide or related crimes and make recommendations for preventative action So together with the special advisor on the responsibility to protect my office works under a common methodology For the prevention of atrocity crimes by which I mean genocide war crimes and crimes against humanity So this mandate is global Meaning that my office looks at situations worldwide where there's a risk that atrocity crimes could occur This is because there's no part of the world that is immune to the risk of these crimes and in fact all Societies may have some indicators of risk and it is often how Societies respond to these risks that determine if a situation escalates into more serious concern Including the most serious instances the commission of atrocity crimes Now based on my experience as a mediator and as a peace builder of many a standing I Do consider it as a priority to translate? from an intergenerational perspective the concept of genocide prevention as an international and national norm Into a practical reality implemented at community levels So much research points at atrocities happening within local communities pointing at civilians as a primary target and I say so from personal experience knowing that in all the places that I have worked that I've often seen atrocity crimes happening to people on the ground and People on the ground at the community level all the civilians who are the targets of this attacks Not only Not recognizing that's what's happening to them is an atrocity So they do not understand that this is not Violence that this is not armed conflicts that this is an atrocity crime and therefore They do not have the capacity to engage with what is happening to them from a perspective of What do you do when atrocity crimes are happening to you and that's been one of my key driving forces to take this whole concept of prevention of genocide that has such an International approach such a regional approach such a national approach to the extent that often we expect Governments to react. We do not expect The people who are targeted to have any agency to do something about this We need to take that to the level where these communities know that they have some agency and Know how to recognize what's happening to them. So in light of that What we do we collect and analyze information on risks of genocide we follow up on sources And that includes field visits. So for example, I just arrived yesterday morning from the Democratic Republic of Congo We verify Information and all this we do on the basis of the framework of analysis of atrocity crimes Which is a tool that's available on our website Developed by my office to assess risks of genocide and other atrocity crimes This tool sets out the most common risk factors of atrocity crimes and corresponding indicators So when we verify this information, we are then able to provide early warning on actions to prevent or hold Genocides to the Secretary General and Security Council on situations that could escalate to atrocity crimes So this tool is also used by all actors governments civil society academia And it's also used by us in the UN system as well So for example, I had a team coming to semi of indigenous people from Brazil and they've analyzed What's been happening to them on the basis of this framework of analysis? And so therefore they are able to say and which is why I'm talking about the agency that people have on the ground They're able to say according to this framework of analysis of atrocity crimes, which is the UN official Policy on analyzing atrocity crimes. What is happening to us? We see it as an atrocity. So my mandate is important for what it says, but also important for what it does not say So for example, it does not equip me with the prerogative of determining whether genocide war crimes or crimes against humanity Have been committed because only a competent independent court of justice can determine this At the same time Accountability is so central to my mandate especially in situations where there are serious allegations of commission of atrocity crimes So the in such situations without Accountability we do know that perpetrators might feel invited to continue committing such crimes in light of ongoing impunity Or victims may decide to seek revenge if they find no appropriate criminal accountability or judicial venue to address their allegations So there is still the perception that pursuing accountability Can be detrimental to making in sustaining peace many see a contradiction in pursuing peace and justice As if these two are different and mutually exclusive categories So as many we are the United Nations, we do not see things that way on the contrary Accountability constitutes a key component of peace without it when there is impunity for past perpetrators The circle of revenge is fuel and can continue so I must say To you that I came to the United Nations strongly conscious of the millions maybe even billions of people around the world who know that atrocity crimes are going to happen to them and they have nobody to tell and I Remain conscious of that fact every day When I wake up and I'm going to work. I think about those people because I know them. I know that experience I've lived it and we Who work in this field of? Prevention of atrocity crimes we work with the reality of knowing that The prevention of atrocity crimes has made great progress in identifying factors Putting a society at greater risk of experiencing atrocities We also know that this has not Translated into widespread effective early warning and response mechanisms to prevent their commission So this means that where early warning concerns are raised prompt well informed early response actions on atrocity crimes are not happening in many parts of the world So there are many reasons for things because atrocity crimes do not only happen during armed conflict Sometimes they happen for instance with indigenous people like I've just mentioned or with migrants or refugees in many countries that are not in conflict So prevention we know also costs money And it's often hard to make the case because the outcome of prevention absence of atrocity crimes sometimes cannot be proven Indeed, I've noticed on our Twitter page one of the questions I get asked most often is So how many genocides have you prevented? Can you prove it? So it's so difficult to prove what you've prevented and that really becomes What those of us work in prevention look so We do know that there is almost unanimous consensus that the primary responsibility to prevent Rests first and foremost with national governments and this responsibility is Clearly articulated in the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide Which not only obligates states not to commit genocide, but also obligates them to Prevent genocide to punish genocide and enact the necessary legislation to give effort to the provisions of the convention And with that in mind we are paying specific attention To the 153 countries that have ratified the genocide convention the 1948 genocide convention Supporting them in domesticating supporting them in creating policies legislation that then support this Genocide convention in that criminalize Genocide people think that genocide is so far away from them, but genocide is with us It's always a step away. So we Therefore also support strengthening institutions independent human rights institutions All over the world We strengthen institutional dispute resolution institutions Judicial institutions we work with law enforcement We work with electrocommissions and we advance Implementation of the United Nations sustainable development goals Each of which has its own indicators and measures of success and as I often say Every failed sustainable development goal Creates a risk factor for atrocity crimes That is not far-fetched when you think about food security, for example If you don't have food security then that okay already becomes a risk factor so we have learned from experience and That's one of the reasons why I'm here that if we are more likely to succeed if we help connect the prevention dots for atrocity crimes systems Worldwide and at country level And if there is a bind from national governments, that's usually a great reason to succeed But sometimes governments are those we need to prevent from atrocity crimes. So the prevention is also more likely when national actors are involved That go beyond government and also include other actors and institutions. So for example, we have a plan of action the plan of action for religious leaders and actors To prevent violence that could lead to atrocity crimes We are in the process of developing a similar plan of action with traditional leaders We are also working with them People in the business community people in the sports community to develop these plans of action. We Have another one that's ready that we are launching during the CSW The first one ever of women how women can work to prevent violence that could lead to atrocity crimes and the whole approach towards this Is has been geared around Identifying in societies who are the most influential actors and what is it that they need to do to prevent atrocity crimes? We are trying to normalize The language of prevention of atrocity crimes to all these Constituencies so that when they speak it then it becomes people then take it seriously. So we also have Great examples with academic institutions. For example in the Costa Rica Where the the UN country team in Costa Rica is working with the University of Costa Rica Where they're producing? They have a plan of action on his speech the UN country team and That plan of action is in partnership with the university So students in the university are researching on his speech And so there is direct flow of information between the research and the action that the UN is taking so Success of course is likely to depend on how sustainable this kind of efforts are and we need targeted interventions that are important In terms of their impact But also important in terms of sustainability So therefore For risk assessment and analysis in addition to offering assistance to national authorities and to communities We work with so many civil society actors around the world We also work with other assessment processes such as the universal periodic review process Which is so important because of its granular nature and its universality so I Also conduct country visits in which we fact find like I said, I just came from the DRC I've been to quite a number of countries this year been to Iraq I've been to Central Asia been to Kyrgyzstan have been to Bangladesh have been To Nigeria have been to quite a number of places and in all these places we Build information we conduct assessment exercises on risk factors in our framework of analysis with national actors when they are willing to do this and For example, we did this with special jurisdiction for peace institutions in Colombia and we also support the development and implementation of hate speech action plans in coordination with UN country teams and In terms of provision of visibility to good practices at country level My office is very powerful around that. So I've mentioned his speech My office also leads the implementation of the United Nations strategy and plan of action on his speech Which was launched by the secretary general in 2019 This strategy sets out guidance for United Nations entities and other societal actors to address hate speech at the national and global level Enhance efforts to tackle the root causes and drivers of hate speech including racism and racial discrimination Therefore enabling effective responses by the United Nations system to the impact of hate speech on societies This strategy is in line with international human rights standards and with the right to freedom of opinion and expression And we often say we are not saying people shouldn't speak We are saying we should speak more but we should speak more From a responsible perspective and in that respect. We are supporting globally Several UN country teams around the world peacekeeping and special political missions and member states who have developed and implemented context-specific action plans on his speech and I often say that Lots of analysis is done around the world But when there is analysis because some of the national governments have also started writing up their own national action plans on his speech to see What a country Thinks is hate speech to see what a country feels is a threshold for incitement to violence Because that's what we look at when looking at his speech. It's a completely different way of looking at things So I've spoken about plans of action And I've spoken about the fact that we look at all this influential mitigating Actors in society So we have work that we are working on with parliaments as well to develop plans of action both for themselves on how to Deal with the hate speech that happens in parliaments where of course in many cases you can get away You have the freedom to say whatever you want in parliament including most sometimes including What could be considered as hate speech and We are supporting scholars in the development of examinable courses and academic modules Incorporating genocide studies and prevention Some of it into existing teaching and some of it as new teaching. So so far we've had a Meeting with African scholars. We met in December last year in Dakar to develop the continent's first atrocity prevention curriculum and They we When we were looking for the scholars to come we decided not to Place this in any discipline. So we looked for scholars. So we had Agricultural engineers in the room. We had nutritionists. We had lawyers We had and all of them because you know from experience I know atrocity crimes when they happen they happen to everyone genocides war crimes crimes against humanities They don't spare engineers. They don't spare architects. They happen to everyone So we had everyone in the room giving us their perspective of how do you interpret the prevention of atrocity crimes from an architectural perspective when you think about Who builds the torture chambers? In places where atrocity crimes happen when if you go to Auschwitz and you see that gas chamber And you think to yourself who build this and what they ever held accountable when you think about This justice system that we have that focuses So strongly on the person with the highest responsibility and then doesn't focus on people who hold Lower responsibilities, then you see the need to engage everyone on this perspective We've also done the same thing With Asian scholars and them we already have an atrocity crimes Curriculum for universities that's already being piloted in universities in Cambodia in Vietnam in Thailand We have a teacher training module for secondary school students again. That's already being piloted we have also worked with the European Union we've Set up an atrocity prevention toolkit that again is already being used and I would say that In terms of all this communication is key In terms of putting out all the issues the UN we have a working definition of his speech We know that we don't have a universal definition of his speech and that's a challenge because different countries have different approaches to what they would call his speech and so Our definition of his speech is linked to the reason why the office that I lead is The one that's the United Nations focal point for his speech We do know that among among the risk factors for genocide His speech ranks high you to commit atrocity crimes. It's important to dehumanize people the people who are targeted for for those crimes to be committed on them and In dehumanizing those people his speech is used and so we know that When the Holocaust was happening for example or when they genocide against the two sin Rhonda was happening When the genocide in Srebrenica was happening that at that time if social media existed It didn't exist to the extent it does now and And for the Holocaust for example it wasn't there at all so We engage with taking social media companies globally We have a method that moved from Condemning them in terms of what they do to sitting with them So we have round tables with them and in these round tables we discuss their business profit model and I tell them this is what your business profit model does To the mandate that we have this is what happens when we have one whole year of work around an issue And then somebody from somewhere comes with a lie with a falsehood and hits the button and this lie spreads Around the world. So this round tables produce recommendations For us to work together and on the basis of these round tables We've been able to agree with taking social media companies and they we have virtually like all of them Twitter Facebook Tiktok all of them coming Google YouTube we see to them and for on the basis of these recommendations we agreed on their use of the working definition of the UN on his speech to create algorithms We agreed on the use of that definition To create guidelines for content moderators. So there's been a lot of progress in the last meeting that We had was just last week Monday the week last week and we discussed with them The recommendations of the past years we discussed self regulation We discussed, you know, and it's a Chatham house rule meeting. We closed the door We don't attribute anything to anyone, but we speak about these issues. We give them practical examples We show them How his speech is propagated for example in places where taken social media companies who have expanded to the whole world Don't have translation for local languages. We also show them Places where images that could mean something in one place mean something completely different in another space and We give them very practical granular examples of how this works. We also give them examples of Coded language and stereotypes that are used that then people get away with saying things that otherwise You wouldn't know algorithm can catch Sometimes not even a human being content moderator can catch You know like for example in a Rwanda when they were targeting the tootsie. They were talking about cutting the tall trees No algorithm will capture that we have so many uprooting the weeds. We have for the Rohingya remove the fleas Just the other day I issued a statement when the agenda in Ethiopia said that they are going to go to Tigray and remove the lice So algorithms don't capture these kind of things. So we Have key challenges and when his speech does not reach the threat of incitement like the examples have just Given you or when it is in those languages that they don't have translation for and last year I briefed the security council on the topic of taking social media companies addressing and countering his speech and I invited Taking social media companies to brief with me and we had very useful session So in in areas where genocide has been proven conclusively to have happened by competent codes like the Holocaust Srebrenica Bosnia has a govina 1995 Rwanda 1994 we are extremely concerned about the divisive rhetoric which is giving rise to holocausts denial and genocide denial and You know Like many people are used to find this completely ridiculous like how can somebody deny the holocaust? How can you deny that a genocide happened? But I can tell you that In Bosnia has a govina I was able to make the connection between holocaust deniers and genocide deniers and How that happened was that I began to notice because I've read a lot on holocaust denial and I began to notice that the arguments holocaust deniers were making what the same arguments that were being made in Bosnia has a govina and Same arguments that were being made in Rwanda So I began to see the connection and to realize the holocaust deniers were giving the world a template of denial for atrocity crimes and Looking at all these and looking at Connecting the dots Then realized that Their Conferences that have been held for example in Bosnia has a govina where there was actually a commission of inquiry To prove that the genocide in Srebrenica did not happen that conference was attended by holocaust deniers in this book at that conference And then we have this picture this photo from a fortune in one of the cities in Bosnia as a govina where a young person born after the war young people born after the war Have you know they have several murals in many places Especially in Republica Sepska area and these photos these murals are of people who have been convicted for genocide and They treat them as heroes and so we have these young people standing there and They have the mural right in front of them and they are saluting the mural with a Nazi salute So I use that photo To explain To people to those of us who are peace builders those of us who are mediators those of us who are to prevent atrocity crimes That if they can unite if holocaust deniers genocide deniers can unite really we must unite and we must unite against them because They are not united for the sake of just uniting. They are uniting for the sake I always say denial of the Holocaust denial of the genocide is Preparation for another Holocaust is preparation for another genocide and I don't say this As ingest I say this in completeness and I can prove it. So what we've done We partnered With an organization here in the US the Jacob Plonstein Institute. We brought together a team of people who then Began to form this core of people who need to stand up against this Holocaust deniers against this genocide deniers and We developed a policy Documented on our website on Holocaust and genocide now. How do you combat Holocaust and genocide denial? It has some practical ideas on how we do this and We do know that We cannot ignore the fact of in this world that there is a very very very lucrative Field in business for willing by a willing seller of arms. So we've really moved from the space where in terms of Committing atrocities where we would be thinking that this is something that is so far-fetched We do know that atrocities are happening now. They are happening now in quite a number of places where the availability of weapons is always at an all-time high and We do know that we are living within a reality of increased privatization of security at the community level Yet diplomatic efforts are often aimed at trust building at top political levels So we haven't built diplomatic capacity at the local level and I often tell the ambassadors I meet in New York on a daily basis That I admire how they can fight and disagree in the General Assembly And then have coffee afterwards and that's a capacity that we need to be able to take to the local level How do people disagree and agree and then have coffee afterwards? so I would say that I Do strongly believe that policing communities are the core of prevention when sufficiently Insustainably supported can be instrumental to effective action and I do believe that ultimately prevention Is local. I do know of course that that government have a lot of agency in ensuring that prevention is local I do know sometimes governments do not want to ensure that prevention is local and In countries that have experienced conflict in the past when we bring together civil society and community Leaders that represent a wide variety of constituencies to share their experiences It becomes extremely vital to do so if the gains are to be sustainable and felt by all and At the end of the day, it's Imperative and that's why we are using the approach of finding out who is most influential in societies To ensure that we get agents of transformation who can contribute not only to changing narratives But also to encourage everyone to do their part to advocate for build and sustain Peaceful coexistence. So I would really like to call On all countries in the world To prioritize prevention Many of the conflicts that are happening now in the world We had prior knowledge that they were going to happen. We've engaged behind the scenes with quite a number of these leaders we engage With them Them in terms of explaining to them who are vulnerable populations also reside in where Atrocity crimes could happen But this propensity for human beings to keep getting into wars It's also the same propensity for human beings to get out of wars. We have spaces where we are able to leave Without wars for a period of time and yet we have places where these wars keep going on and on and do not end So I would just like to say that on that note Grateful again to be here and to say that This discourse and analysis that's related to atrocity crimes which has focused so almost exclusively on state-level political interactions and Missed out on this whole community and grassroots component of the local level That it needs to be contextualized and meaningfully Devolved to communities. So in terms of what I really feel strongly that Needs to be taken away from the composition. That is it Because we still have an even in my capacity in this position right now I still get phone calls from people who tell me we are going to be attacked on this day at this time by the following people and When we are and and we you please help us so that it doesn't happen And so I reach out to all these networks and reach out to you know The systems and reach out to everybody who can help sometimes. It's too far For the help to reach sometimes it's too remote, but when we can be able to stop it and so Ultimately, if we get a world where people know That they are going to be attacked But they know who to tell Then really we will have gotten somewhere. Thank you very much Good morning, everyone. My name is Lauren Bailey I'm the senior program officer for atrocity prevention here at USIP and I now have the honor of kicking off a facilitated discussion with Alice I'm going to start off just by asking Alice a question and then I would invite our audience to get engaged as well We'll take questions in the room and then we'll also take questions from our online audience You can use hashtag USIP atrocity prevention Alice. Thank you so much for those remarks. They were incredibly rich and comprehensive I was struck by how vast your mandate really is prevention is a Significant task. I wanted to start off with a question about how you in your day-to-day work balance The focus on prevention at the local level with your global mandate How do you manage your state partners and the Security Council while still prioritizing prevention at the local level? And thank you very much and Again, thanks to everyone who made the time to come today and also to join online I am able to balance that too because we have you and field presences in many places so I work very closely with the United Nations resident coordinators So in quite a number of countries around the world we have you in presences, so then it becomes easy but also Before I came to the UN had this huge network of people around the world civil society Especially women especially I was in so many women networks. So I'm able to balance because I can get very granular Feedback on what's going on on the ground From the people that I knew in my past life, but I can also get a feedback from the UN field presences so So much of my work like on a daily basis is involves I speak a lot to the ambassadors in New York that the permanent representatives in New York and in Geneva We speak about kinds of things I'm always looking for ideas that could become resolutions sponsored by these member states and Putting them out, you know last year we had great success for example with the Kingdom of Morocco The permanent representative he led this discussion that ended up becoming a resolution That actually gave us the first international day of country in his speech. So this balance but What really helps me is that I never forget if you ask anyone I work in the office I always tell them I don't forget why I come from because I'll go back there And when I go back there, I want to be able to go and tell them it did something for you So I always connect the prevention dots Thank you That's really quite interesting and good to see that not only are you a catalyst at the UN for these conversations But a connector between the local and that the national and international Just one more question for me that I'm hoping you could talk a little bit about your DRC trip Within this question, but it was very interesting for me and good to hear your comments on Normalizing the language of atrocity crimes and that all states have risks And I'd be curious to hear how you work with states to make them comfortable with that because that's often a very sort of Sensitive topic the idea that a state has atrocity risk or is moving towards a potential risk of atrocities How do you manage that process and did that come up at all in your time in DRC? I would say in terms of the language of atrocity crimes Because they are so grave, you know, we talk about genocide as being the crime of crimes and You know how if you court it is to prove it because you have to prove intent not comfortable with Like I'm I Don't try to normalize it to the extent that people Feel that it's not threatening people Should be taken aback when they hear that we are talking about atrocity crimes in their context. We should be taken aback But at the same time There remains such little knowledge Among the people to whom atrocity crimes happens communities in terms of At recognition so which is when I talk about normalizing want people who atrocity crimes happen to To be able to say what is happening to me is a genocide what is happening to me is a war crime This is what I can do about it. This is who I can reach about it This is how I can go about it if my government is not responsive This is what I should do. So that's what I mean by by normalizing so in the context of The DRC, we know the DRC is a country that has been plagued with the conflict violent conflict for years for decades so much Goes on in the country As a lot to do of course with resources. There is the respect of resources And so we have the anomaly of this country that is very rich in resources But whose people are very poor so this conflict of Resources, but there's also conflict of a biology. There's also conflict of Identity and My being in DRC Was in response to quite a number of issues that are happening around the country just the East West as well so in in due time I'll be Picking out in the next week or so with very concrete Statement on what is happening there and what I think should be done about it Excellent. Thank you. I'd like to open it up to our audience in the room We do have a mic runner. Please feel free to raise your hands if you'd like to ask a question Saley we have down here. Thank you well as a Palestinian refugee I know well what is a genocide Especially I married to a Bosnian So I met survivors from Srebrenica and I know that my grandparents survived from the Palestinian genocide in 1948 Then now we are me and my colleagues are refugees in Lebanon We can't even visit our hometown My my dad was born in Lebanon He can't visit his hometown and we can't enter to our hometown even not to live there to visit it And it's some kilometers away. I Just wanted to share my story because I didn't hear anything about Palestine and every day Genocide is happening there yesterday. They killed a 16 years old Gare Before a child in school before elderly. So just I wanted to to note this and thank you Thank you for your comment. Hi, my name is Madeleine Moreno. First of all, I wanted to thank you for being here. I Am a graduate student at American University here in DC and I am curious What is the relationship between? Clearly your mandate is atrocity prevention But what is the relationship with some of the other UN bodies that are tasked with? sort of responding to atrocities, I know you talked about things you can do to combat hate speech and What you can do when you know you receive a phone call that people are in danger, but I'm wondering about, you know, what can you really do for people like the Uyghurs who are interned in these camps and you Know don't have access to Phones or you know something like that that's already a genocide that's already under way So maybe I can I can ask Alice when when risk is rising, which I think is sort of the focus of the question What do you what? How does your work change? What are you doing to sort of address risk? What are you doing to help people who are at imminent risk or in involved in an ongoing genocide? Thank you In terms of The connections of on the ground We have the UN teams on the ground. So we speak directly to them in terms of the kind of issues that need to be Responded to But I can tell you that response because most often We expect the national government Expected to respond to protect the civilians. It's not always the case. I know and sometimes it's national governments That are actually perpetuating these issues the atrocity crimes We Work with the UN country teams on the ground to ensure response. So for example when you see Like the UN high commissioner for refugees the team that works on refugees We have the UN DP. So like for example right now UN DP is doing a lot of work in Nigeria in Boko Haram territory rebuilding homes, you know rebuilding infrastructure The high commissioner for refugees with who we have an MOU with actually on atrocity crimes and their prevention We work a lot with them because we don't have field offices so so many offices UN offices are doing things in terms of prevention around the world and in response, sorry, not just prevention When I talked about vocalling I was Speaking to the gravity of the larger situation because I know I'm speaking to people in the same field That there's so much that can be done in this field of response Response is still weak response is still expected to be Either by the international bodies like the UN or national governments in that agency at the ground level is not there Kenya where I come from we built this Response early warning linked to early response where Identified what is it people can do within the spaces there to respond to these kind of situations because there is quite a bit that can be done so there is So much in this field of response that is not Being done that there isn't enough. There is a lot I would say of indicators of atrocity crimes, but in terms of response We do need the support of the peace building community to help us in the atrocity prevention community to help Help to support the efforts that we are putting in place because clearly they are not enough. So for Palestine And I'm sorry that I could not mention all the countries But I can tell you Is a lot that we do Behind the scenes in terms of informing all these debates that you see at the General Assembly at the Security Council and in terms of Palestine in terms of Working on issues to do with Palestine Parts of what I want to do next year because it always helps as I said in the speech To understand the issues, but also to go to the ground So part of what I would like to do next year Hopefully is to go to Israel to go to Palestine and Then get for myself the granular issues on the ground and see how is it that we can engage better And it's not just Palestine. There are so many This is where all the time people require the office We have people asking about Kashmir. When can you do something about Kashmir? We have people talking about of course the in Sahel in The whole Sahel right now. There's so much going on there. The Great Lakes region. There's so much going on Not to undermine what you've just said about Palestine, but you can be sure that We always have it on top of our radar So and then what is it you say that we are practically doing? I have mentioned some of the issues working with these religious communities working with them and when we say working with religious communities We work with religious communities from around the world To actually when we know that something is happening and which I think then goes back to the question of How do you prove what you've prevented? When because my job is to say this is about to happen. How do we stop this? so Beyond working with with the religious leaders and the media and all these other constituencies They are very practical Ways that we work on in terms of for example ensuring that policies ensuring that Governments are speaking to each other and so for example like the DRC One of the things that I'm doing now. I've had already met The ambassadors here from the Great Lakes before I went to the DRC I will meet them again before Issuing this statement to see what it is that we can stop But I can tell you until we have very serious conversations as a world in terms of how to Regulate all these arms that are out there in terms of how to ensure That there is all this free speech, but then what does it lead to in terms of? Social media and in terms of the kind of issues that are put out there that there isn't much headway We will make and also until we Are able to get the leaders of the world to come to the moment the kind of moment They came to when they were creating the United Nations when they were Saying never again and then all these never again moments that come and then the world is united in the The world says we need to stop this Until we get the world to get there until we get especially the leaders Who inform the geopolitics of the world to then? Speak with one voice on atrocity crimes, then it becomes very very difficult. I would say one huge plus also is a You know the the atrocity prevention task force here in the US Now the UK is in the process of creating one itself We've supported the different governments for example in the Great Lakes region or the countries They are now have Genocide prevention committees so local ownership in terms of Taking charge of preventing atrocity crimes is extremely important Thank you. We could go to we've got now five So we'll go I saw the knocks first and then we'll come to you and then we'll do four more Let's take them all it we'll take two. I'll take them all at once So say look can you knocks is here with his hand up? Hello, my name is Nox Tames. I'm a senior visiting expert here at USIP and a former diplomat first. Thank you for your service Sadly your mandate continues to grow with the increasing examples of atrocity crimes To tough countries, I want to ask you about China and Afghanistan We all know that the office of the High Commissioner issued a really Damning report on Chinese persecution of Uyghur Muslims Many were very disappointed the Human Rights Council voted against even taking up a discussion of that At about the same time the UN special repertoire on Afghanistan Discussed the risk of atrocities facing the Hazzar community in Afghanistan at the hands of ISIS and the lack of Taliban protection provided by them How are you engaging the Uyghur and Hazzar communities and also the Chinese and Not Afghan government the Taliban One you've got the Chinese government with a documented list of I think many would say are atrocity crimes against a religious minority And Afghanistan you've got a terrorist group specifically targeting the Hazzar because of the religion ethnicity So I'd appreciate any insights you can provide We'll come down here We can take a few at once and if you could be briefing your question just for timing purposes that would be wonderful First thank you for your service and thank you for being here. My name is Rami. I'm a Palestinian scriptwriter and I am a refugee in Lebanon before I came here, I went through your quotes and I have one question or two questions about one of these quotes the quote Says conflict is a fact of life violence and conflict Do not mean the same thing because conflict involves choices that include interventions before it becomes violent We must now join hands to work towards the kind of interventions that promote community ownership of peace My question, do you think this applies on the Palestinian cause regardless of the non-stop killing of Palestinian and nuisance people? Since more than 70 years Israel have been killing anyone regardless of their ages sex men or women old or children I think it's unfair for us to check hands with our enemy Who committed violence and massacres every day since 1948? my second question is Do you address what's happening in Palestine is a conflict? Thank you Just behind you Please be very please be very brief. Thank you. Yeah. Hi. I'm Katie. I am an undergraduate student at American University Mine's more of a logistical question But I'm wondering how what mediums you use to promote productive dialogue when a lot of people have Pre-existing biases or prejudices against those they're engaging in conversation with Hello, and my name is Prada. I'm a peace scholar program leader at American University And a topic that seems to get forgotten and the secretary general address this the other day is Myanmar I'm just wondering whether there are any processes going on right now to address the atrocities and to prevent them potentially from Captaining further in the future And yet if you can talk anything more about that we would appreciate it That's quite a bit of ground to cover, but please Sorry starting with them The Afghanistan and the has around We are meeting This week some minority communities from Afghanistan. I'm not going to say about what because it Could be dangerous for them But I can tell you that on And there are many days the has around the Tajiks the six day Hindus if quite a number and Some of them are almost extinct As of what's been happening there. There's some action. We are going to take this week that I will not rent if I Reempt it now Just to say that anyway that we are dealing with this issue and we've dealt with it extensively the has around we have Most close to two years research on on the issues and We had we've had meetings with so many of them and is definitely Action that you will see For them because We know that Michel Bachelet issued the report just before she left In there that we have a new High Commissioner Walker And that he's just reported to Geneva and so we will Cap this issue with him the report Itself doesn't specifically speak to genocide It speaks to atrocity crimes So we will follow up on this because they're we needed a High Commissioner to have this Conversation, so we are definitely following up on that and then for the question on Palestine and whether I consider what's happening in Palestine to be a conflict, you know When we teach about Conflict and conflict prevention We teach people that conflict there's a difference between conflict and violent conflict and Violent conflict is what we try to avoid that Conflict it happens. Sometimes you'll bump into somebody and then maybe You will say why did you hit me like that? But then you will not get into a fight Sometimes you you've like conflict is you happen. There's so many conflicts that happen every single day the fact that the shouldn't lead to violent conflict is Problem, so of course what's happening in Palestine is violent conflict so but not conflict in case why we say that when the tongue sometimes gets into conflict with the teeth and then if the teeth bites the tongue but When the two of them the teeth and the tongue when they see food then they reconcile so Just explains like conflict It's not violent conflict. So that quote Speaks to that aspect and it's good. You've brought it out because now I'll change it so that it can bring out the real meaning That it was supposed to bring out so Add So the question that and I'd spoken to on Palestine before speaks to it And then the issue of Myanmar And I think I jumped one question and the mediums that you use is like the mediums that you use So so we have a lot of Idioms and and and methods it depends on level of the conflict it depends on Who we are engaging with I mediated for many years. So Did I used to write lots of? Like I've even actually written a companion for women mediating armed conflict The kind of what they need to do in terms of dialogue how they need to prepare that kind of thing so everything depends on the context everything depends on what you are trying to speak to and In what you are trying to do in who is in the room. So there are different methods, but key method of course has to have Sometimes it's mediation. Sometimes it's a you know, they are it's a number of methods But if what you want to do is a Solve whatever is going on then You have to study intensely always I would say to myself before when I used to mediate that I'll try to know as More about the conflict that even those in the room who to whom it's affecting No, I'll try my best so that when they are speaking then it's speaking to Some knowledge that I have so that they don't say something and I respond in an insensitive way So it's so important to learn a lot about the situation then that informs the dialogue on Myanmar on the Rohingya What's happening to the Rohingya still happening is extremely Important in regards to It just giving an example to the world on what this can can be done about this particular situation I was in Bangladesh this year And spent a lot of time in Cox Bazaar with a Rohingya just speaking with them in Understanding what they feel about the current situation in where they came from and in 2015 I was actually one of the people who went to Myanmar To help prepare the country for the elections I was helping them to set up an early warning system linking early warning to early response and right now we have quite a number of mechanisms that are dealing with a Myanmar issue that Close to my mandate Because we have the ICJ the International Court of Justice where the Myanmar government has been charged with among other things Several counts of genocide we have the ICC also is on the ground we have the International independent mechanism for Myanmar that is led mandated by the Human Rights Council and led by the UN and all of this because the charges are on atrocity crimes we follow closely we support closely and the the International Court of Justice The country that complained to the international the broader charge against Myanmar is Gambia And you know Gambia is this really small country that's even in the middle of Senegal But they were able to take another the country of Myanmar to court and they did so because they've ratified the Commission of Genocide and we Look forward to when other member states other countries member states of the UN can do so for other situations Like around the world. So we are very supportive of the Gambian team the Gambian prosecution team we've also been very supportive towards the fact of them that So much of the mobilization of against the Rohingya Happened on Facebook in that Facebook then has now even this evidence to ICJ, so it's extremely useful. I must say In terms of being realistic and in terms of somebody like me who relied Come from a country that relied on international courts and sometimes to sort out issues I would say that Of what we are crafting now and part of why this work that I'm talking about working with communities is so important Is that international courts usually go for the person with the highest responsibility? So then you have been at the local level and it happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina It happened in Rwanda. It happened everywhere even after the Holocaust where local level perpetrators Free nobody holds them accountable and Because the justice system is weak or the justice system is not willing to So when I speak about the role that we have in terms of strengthening local level national mechanisms It's extremely important that this happens Because at the end of the day The justice that we seek so much and I talked about peace and justice working together becomes extremely difficult to feel that sense that It's happened If for example, you feel that the people at the local level If you are seeing your rapist walking up and down every day or you're seeing the person who killed Your father and mother walking around every day and you feel that there's nothing you can do about it That there is so much that needs to be done about that particular aspect so when you talk about linking the local and the In the policy level like in New York Those are the kind of conversations that I am having with ambassadors in New York and telling them if The world was able to devise This international courts this international criminal justice system that then takes care of the person in the highest Responsibility, what do we need to do about the person so the people with a lower responsibility are not being held to account Alice thank you so much for your Sharing all of the work that you do. It's an impressive amount of work challenging mandate But it's been wonderful to hear how much you're doing the richness of what you're doing and how much you're pulling your Background as a local peace builder into the office of the special advisor the position of the special advisor Thank you all for taking time to come and join us for this conversation We appreciate your participation and thank you Alice for your work cute