Responsibility to Protect

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is an international principle that encourages governments and the global community to prevent and stop serious harms like genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. It emphasizes that sovereignty includes responsibilities to protect citizens from these atrocities. When a country fails to do so or is the threat itself, the international community can intervene, through diplomacy or, as a last resort, force, to uphold human rights and restore safety. R2P aims to prevent suffering and uphold human dignity while respecting sovereignty whenever possible.