Washington DC: Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development: The Role of Development Agencies in Preventing Mass Atrocities

An event promoted by the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities and the Legal Vice-Presidency of the World Bank – partners of the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development – in collaboration with USAID.

April 9, 2014 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
 World Bank Headquarters | Washington DC

Room: I2-220 – 1850 I Street, N.W.

The Role of Development Agencies in Preventing Mass Atrocities

Overview

The IMF-WB Civil Society Forum seeks to facilitate ongoing dialogue on how development agencies and donors can contribute to preventing mass atrocities. This session is meant to be the first of a series of meetings focusing on how donors and development agencies can better implement Pillar 2 of the Responsibility to Protect and thus prevent mass atrocities. The second session will be held in November.

Societies with legitimate and democratic governments, fair and stable economic growth, effective judiciary systems, and avenues for addressing public grievances non-violently rarely experience mass atrocities. In light of this, donors usually help strengthen state capacities to prevent mass atrocities by providing governance, democracy and human rights assistance, supporting early warning and response systems, strengthening civil society, and funding conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs. However, donors rarely implement a specific mass atrocity lens in their work.

Fostering discussion among donors, including aid agencies, on their role and ways of cooperation with other stakeholders in mass atrocities prevention is of paramount importance. Donors and agencies may play a key role in mass atrocities prevention because of their work on the field, which provides them with first-hand information regarding risk factors and possible escalations.

To better serve their own purposes and at the same time promote efficient prevention of mass atrocities, donors need to increase their shared understanding of the risk factors and warning signs, and approach the most delicate situations with a targeted approach that aims to prevent mass atrocities and better coordinate responses once mass atrocities have occurred.

This event is organized within the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development which is a permanent knowledge forum that seeks to connect experts and stakeholders from around the world and to provide a mechanism for continual and efficient knowledge exchange and for the cogeneration of innovative legal solutions to development challenges based on efficiency, equity and justice.

DOWNLOAD THE FLYER