Taking Stock of the Responsibility to Protect in Africa: Challenges, Prospects, and Priorities for the Next Decade

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has achieved important progress since it gained a rare political consensus at the World Summit in 2005. In the final paragraph of his 2014 Report on the Responsibility to Protect, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared the tenth anniversary of the adoption of R2P “an opportune moment” to build on the consensus reached to date and to “take stock of efforts to implement” the principle. In support of this reflection process, the Stanley Center, in collaboration with the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, organized a regional consultation meeting in Africa, “Taking Stock of Efforts to Implement the Responsibility to Protect,” held March 6, 2015, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This informal consultation brought together a diverse group of experts, policymakers, diplomats, and representatives of African Union member states, regional organizations, and civil society organizations to reflect on ten years of R2P implementation and to produce recommendations for advancing the principle in the years ahead.

This report highlights the salient issues discussed by participants at the meeting and recommendations for making R2P fully operational in the next decade.