OSCE High Commissioner discusses responsibility to protect and conflict prevention

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek addressed a conference on “R2P: The Next Decade”, which was held on 18 January 2012 to mark the tenth anniversary of the concept of the responsibility to protect (R2P). The conference was organized by the Stanley Foundation in New York.

Vollebaek shared the experience of his Institution in conflict prevention, and specifically discussed the recent example of Kyrgyzstan. In particular, he analysed the implications of the international community’s failure to act after fighting broke out in Kyrgyzstan and he issued a formal early warning. He concluded by reviewing the challenges that R2P faces in the future, and expressed his confidence that by understanding these challenges and limitations, the international community’s efforts to prevent conflicts will become more effective.

The full text of his speech can be found here: //www.osce.org/hcnm/87411

For more information, please see: http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/r2p.cfm.