Global Forum
Against the Crime
of Genocide
Paweł Sawicki / Yerevan Global Forum 2018
On December 9-11, 2018, the 3rd Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide was held in Yerevan. The Forum that was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia with the support of the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect and in cooperation with the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) was dedicated to the prevention of the crime of genocide through education, culture and museums.
The 3rd Global Forum is Armenia’s contribution to the global action and efforts of the international community to prevent genocide and other mass atrocity crimes against humanity. The prevention agenda has been the foreign policy priority of Armenia since it regained its independence back in 1991. From 1998 onward Armenia has initiated numerous resolutions on genocide prevention adopted by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. In 2015 Armenia led the global efforts to designate December 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of Prevention of this Crime. The relevant resolution initiated by Armenia was unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
Armenia, representing a state whose nation that has survived the Genocide, has always maintained its duty and obligation to actively contribute to advancing the global genocide prevention agenda. The theme of education and culture were chosen as the main themes of the Global Forum, since education has pivotal significance in effectively countering the gravest challenges that the humanity faces and is an essential pillar of the prevention efforts.
The Global Forum brought together representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations, as well as prominent experts in the field of genocide prevention and international criminal law from Germany, Poland, the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Argentine, Japan, Canada, Bangladesh, and Rwanda.
The Plenary Session was dedicated to the 70th anniversaries of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The speakers focused on the background of the adoption of Genocide Convention, its role, steps undertaken in accordance to it, results and lessons learnt, as well as the supplementary roles of this two international tools in the context of protection of individuals and groups.
The panel discussions were centered on the issues of supporting genocide prevention through perpetuation of remembrance days of genocide victims, particularly, the role of genocide museums, memorial sites and institutes in the fight against the crime of genocide. The new approaches to education and art about genocide and its prevention, training projects and public education strategies, including the use of social media were the focus of attention of eminent trainers, media activists, leaders of NGOs and university professors, who looked into how the education can best be leveraged to have a lasting effect on genocide prevention in the society.
ludobójstwem oraz jego zapobieganiem, projektów szkoleniowych oraz powszechnych strategii edukacyjnych, w tym wykorzystania mediów społecznościowych to zagadnienia, które znalazły się w centrum uwagi wybitnych trenerów, aktywistów w dziedzinie mediów, liderów organizacji pozarządowych oraz profesorów szkół wyższych, którzy przyglądali się temu, w jaki sposób najlepiej zorganizować edukację tak, by miała ona długofalowy wkład w zapobieganie ludobójstwu w społeczeństwie.
All images in the article: Yerevan Global Forum 2018