On 11 September 2013, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convened its 5th annual informal interactive dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP, R2P) on the theme of the UN Secretary-General’s Report, “State Responsibility and Prevention”.  The dialogue served as an opportunity to advance the
General Assembly’s consideration of RtoP, specifically state capacity toprevent genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.In preparation for the General Assembly interactive dialogue, the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect, and the Stanley Foundation hosted an event on 9 September 2013 featuring civil society representatives who shared their experiences on and provided recommendations for engaging with governments to build domestic capacity to prevent atrocities.

This event featured civil society representatives from Sierra Leone, Canada, Tanzania, Guatemala, Australia, and Kenya, as well as a keynote address by the new UN Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, Dr. Jennifer Welsh, with an introduction by Mr. Adama Dieng, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.