A New Canada-Mexico Partnership - One That Fights Against Mass Atrocities Kyle Matthews and Romeo Dallaire - Open Canada
go to original December 9, 2016

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) and Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto arrive at a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in June, 2016. (Reuters/Chris Wattie)

Last year the United Nations established the first international day to commemorate the victims of genocide. Officially called the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, the day is marked on Dec. 9 — a reminder to the world of our collective responsibility to stop mass atrocities. It was also on this very day in 1948 that the Genocide Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.



“The prevention of genocide is a specific obligation under international law,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon remarked in 2015. “Governments must act on this imperative by investing in prevention and taking preventive action. On this new international observance, let us recognize the need to work together more concertedly to protect individuals from gross human rights violations and uphold our common humanity.”

Unfortunately, as today’s deadly crises in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and the Central African Republic demonstrate, the worst kind of human rights abuses are still being committed. More political will and leadership are needed to work for the prevention and interdiction of these atrocities.

No doubt this will be a challenge for incoming UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who takes the reins from Ban on January 1. There is also no better time than now for countries like Canada to play a pivotal role in the world and to assist other countries to live up to their responsibility to protect populations from mass atrocity crimes.

Read the rest at Open Canada

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!