The GAAMAC Chair, Ambassador Christian Guillermet-Fernandez, opened the event by welcoming the Vice-Chair of the Africa Working Group, Mr. Bakari Sidiki Diaby, the President of the Support Office Association, former Ambassador Michel Gottret, as well as members of the international community in Geneva and the CERD Committee.

The Chair highlighted the results of GAAMAC as a platform for prevention. He also emphasized the importance of collective action in strengthening atrocity prevention especially in the week that we commemorated the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Subsequently, Mr. Bakari Diaby presented some of the achievements of the Africa Working Group, notably in supporting the promotion of national architectures and policies for the prevention of atrocities in Africa.

Mr. Diaby concluded his remarks by underscoring GAAMAC’s distinctive approach to atrocity prevention:

“To think globally about the prevention of mass atrocities and act locally through concrete, joint actions with local players, and to work from the bottom up, taking small steps to bring about lasting change in societies in crisis or emerging from crisis – this is the GAAMAC unique approach that we have had the opportunity to experience.”

The members of CERD, along with other participants, enriched the discussion with constructive ideas, suggesting a closer alignment between GAAMAC and the Convention and the search for synergies with Human Rights Institutions.

The Chair concluded the meeting by thanking the participants for their contributions and making a commitment to follow up on the shared ideas and suggestions.