The meeting brought together over 200 experts and diplomats from 35 Member Countries and eight Observer Countries. The IHRA also has nine Permanent International Partners, including GAAMAC. 

GAAMAC participated in the Committee on the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity on 25 June represented by Ambassador Shara Duncan, Deputy Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva. It was the first active participation of GAAMAC in the IHRA’s Committees since becoming an International Permanent Partner in 2023.  

Ambassador Duncan shared GAAMAC’s history and mission, highlighting past collaborations of the two organizations. During the Committee session, it was learned that many IHRA delegates are involved in awareness and Holocaust education programs beyond the IHRA Member Countries, including through UNESCO’s International Program on Holocaust and Genocide Education.  

To strengthen regional approaches, UNESCO, the UN, and the International Institute on Capacity-Building in Africa developed in 2023, a teacher’s guide for African instructors on teaching about genocide. The teacher’s guide received contributions from GAAMAC Africa Working Group members from Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. 

The IHRA has been part of the GAAMAC community as an informal alliance since its inception in 2013. The collaborations between the two organizations include IHRA’s participation in GAAMAC Global Meetings and GAAMAC’s contributions to promoting Holocaust remembrance, education, and awareness efforts in Europe and beyond. 

GAAMAC expressed a strong interest in continued cooperation with the Committee and the IHRA, always counting on the support of its community members to make atrocity prevention a reality on the ground and to enhance global awareness and efforts in the prevention of mass atrocities. 

Read the IHRA’s press release “Learning from the past, shaping the future at the Glasgow IHRA Plenary”  

Read the IHRA Reflections on Terminology for Holocaust Comparison

Photo: Eloise Bishop