On the 21st of March the first meeting of the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) took place at the United Nations in New York. 50 countries are part of the Group that this year is co-chaired by Italy and Qatar.
The objective of the Italian and Qatari co-presidency of the R2P Group is to encourage the debate in the UN system and strengthen the commitment of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Secretary General on the responsibility of States and International Community to protect populations at risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
The Permanent Italian Representative to the UN, Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi, and the Qatari Representative, Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, took part in the meeting. The chairmanship of the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect represents an important occasion for Italy and Qatar to cooperate at an international level on the themes of the respect of human rights and conflict and regional crises prevention.
