On June 22, 2022, Watchlist’s director spoke at a side event on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) organized by the International Coalition for R2P (ICR2P) and the Global Centre for R2P (GCR2P)—the latter, an Associate Member of the Watchlist network. The event, which marked the publication of the Secretary-General’s annual report on R2P, highlighted the role of children and youth as agents of change, particularly in atrocity prevention.
Following opening remarks by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on R2P Mr. George Okoth-Obbo and GCR2P’s Executive Director Ms. Savita Pawnday, Watchlist Director Ms. Adrianne Lapar spoke about the unique vulnerabilities facing children and youth in atrocity and conflict situations, as well as opportunities and challenges for the participation of young people in atrocity prevention. Her remarks set the stage before a panel discussion featuring four youth activists working on atrocity prevention in regions across the world.
That same week, Ms. Lapar appeared on an episode of Expert Voices on Atrocity Prevention, a podcast from the GCR2P. The monthly podcast, hosted by GCR2P Research Director Jaclyn Streitfeld-Hall, features one-on-one conversations with practitioners from the field of human rights, conflict prevention, atrocity prevention, and other related agendas, and aims to provide a glimpse of the personal and professional side of how practitioners approach human rights protection and atrocity prevention. During the episode—which coincided with the release of the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on R2P—Watchlist’s director reflected on the progress made by the UN’s CAAC mandate over the past 25 years, various UN tools for the assessment of violations against children, as well as how the atrocity prevention community can better address the unique risks faced by children. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube.
