On October 14 and 15, 2015, the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), in its role as Technical Secretariat of the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, participated in an event entitled “High-Level Policy Dialogue on Guarantees of Non-Recurrence: From Aspiration to Policy – Challenges and Lessons Learned in Preventing Human Rights Violation”. The Dialogue, organized by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, took place in Stockholm.
The meeting worked to encourage an interactive dialogue between relevant government actors and representatives of civil society in relation to challenges in implementing policies that function to prevent significant human rights violations as part of a comprehensive working policy of non-repetition. The activity, in turn, provided a suitable framework for identifying concrete actions that allow for the linking of different existing efforts for prevention (initiatives, networks, and mechanisms) with the goal of creating synergy and ensuring that they have a greater impact in society.
In this context, the Latin American efforts presented at the Dialogue centered on the development of a coordinated policy for the prevention of atrocities through the creation and consolidation of the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention as a regional tool for training and cooperation in prevention. The presentation accounted for the advantages of coordinated work between state institutions, bodies of civil society, and the continuing collaboration of the Office of the UN Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect, as a best practice for inspiring the participation of relevant actors at the global level in the incorporation of a focus on prevention in public policies related to human rights.
Eugenia Carbone, Director of AIPR’s Latin American Programs, explains:
The High-Level Policy Dialogue, carried out as part of the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation And Guarantees Of Non-Recurrence, presented a valuable opportunity to establish the groundwork for providing contents and specific elements to the concept of non-repetition while at the same time bringing visibility to the commitments and actions that are being developed in this area.
To learn more about the programs and activities of the Latin American Network for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, visit the Network’s webpage.