PCRC Speaks at the UN Security Council

This December, we marked the 76th Anniversary of the Genocide Convention and the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. In this regard, our Founder and President Velma Šarić spoke at the United Nations headquarters in New York in an event discussing the role of commemoration and memory for the prevention of genocide, alongside partners from Srebrenica Memorial Center, UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Kigali Genocide Memorial and Aegis Trust. Listen to her speech here or read more about the event in a new Balkan Diskurs article.

International Cooperation

Last month, our Founder & President Velma Šarić traveled to Kigali, Rwanda for a set of events with the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG), in partnership with the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) and Aegis Trust. Velma paid respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi by visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial and touring its educational and multimedia exhibits.

While in Kigali we attended an expert consultation meeting on “Promoting Dialogue and Mediation to Prevent Genocide and Related Crimes” organized by the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG) in partnership with the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UNIRMCT) and Aegis Trust. PCRC's Velma Šarić shared more on our work in Bosnia, lessons learned in genocide prevention, and challenges to promoting dialogue in the Western Balkans.

Finishing her visit to Kigali, Rwanda, Velma joined the conference “Ethnicity and Genocide: Policy Guidance for Prevention”, organized by the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG), in partnership with the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) and Aegis Trust. Th​e newly formed conference expert group, including academics and civil society representatives​, discussed the challenges and opportunities of a framework for the prevention of ethnic-based genocidal violence.

Western Balkans Prevention Agenda

As part of the Western Balkans Coalition for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Crimes Prevention (CGMAP), Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) and Impunity Watch organized a regional civil society conference “Prevention in the Western Balkans: Countering Denial and Hate Speech” on December 3 & 4 in Podgorica, Montenegro. Over the course of four panel sessions and several keynote speeches esteemed civil society representatives shared their invaluable insights on addressing hate speech, youth education, empowering CSO engagement and regional collaboration, and inclusive memorialization practices in the Western Balkans.