April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. I have worked – along with dozens of colleagues – on the prevention of mass atrocities for a decade now. This April seems a bit different to me than previous years.
There is the emotional weight of all today’s crises and an increasing sense of urgency around protecting hard-won progress on prevention. But, I also have a growing sense of hope that the future can be different.
The United States government recently designated the atrocities committed by the Islamic State against minority groups in Syria and Iraq to be genocide. This marks the first genocide designation since Darfur over ten years ago. It is also only the second time the U.S. government has declared something to be genocide while it is ongoing. Meanwhile, atrocities continue in places like Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, and Nigeria; not to mention the atrocities being committed by groups other than the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
The impact that current violence is having around the world is devastating. I have heard a lot of people who care deeply about these issues wonder if there is cause for hope amidst all the challenges. From the darkness of all of today’s crises, it can be rather hard to see the remarkable progress that has been made to develop the necessary structures, tools and resources to better respond to and prevent violence.
Despite the difficult news, I am heartened by the work being done by so many dedicated individuals. Over the past several months, more than 700 Americans have traveled to Washington, D.C. specifically to advocate that the U.S. do more to prevent genocide and mass atrocities. Tens of thousands of emails have been sent to congressional offices in support of this same objective.
For its part, the U.S. government now has staff specifically tasked with atrocities prevention at every single agency that would be needed in the effort. The government is now prioritizing coordinated action at the Atrocities Prevention Board (APB) in a way we have never seen before. There is training at the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development for diplomatic and development staff on atrocities prevention and response, and the Intelligence Community is better tracking risks of atrocities around the world. There is still more to be done, but the incredibly hard work of shifting bureaucratic systems and structures is successfully underway.
Importantly, Congress, the Administration, and grassroots supporters are all working to ensure that all of the progress that has been made over the past several years becomes a permanent part of U.S. government efforts to live up to the commitment to “never again” that was made after The Holocaust.
On February 11, Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the bipartisan Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, S.2551. It now has sixteen additional co-sponsors for a total of eighteen Senate supporters. This bill is a critical step that supports key changes to a system that have historically been resistant to taking preventative action. These structures, tools and resources are already having a measurable impact in places like Burundi, Central African Republic, Guinea, Indonesia and Jordan.
April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month, sadly, in large part because so many anniversaries of atrocities fall during it. It is an opportunity to remember all those who have lost their lives to genocide and mass atrocities, to lift up those who face atrocities today, and to take action to ensure the U.S. government does everything in its power to prevent violent conflict now and in the future.
Former FCNL staff member, Bridget Moix talks about how just ten years ago staff in Congressional offices did not even have a basis for understanding that preventing violent conflict is possible. That conversation has shifted remarkably thanks to the work of so many. During Bridget’s keynote address at FCNL’s Quaker Public Policy Institute this past November, she spoke about Elise Boulding’s “200-year present” – the fact that we live in a space and time that has immense connections to the past and to the future. We are all part of an incredible arc of change.
The reality that visible, measurable and successful steps have been taken toward a world free of war and the threat of war over the past several years, and getting to see so many Americans raise their voices in support of a world without violence gives me a great deal of hope.
“Never again” is a well-intended promise, yet one that has gone unfulfilled. This has largely been the case because we have not had the most effective tools to begin implementing such a commitment until now. Your help is needed to protect this progress and uphold the promise.
