Remarks by Ms. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, 14th Session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues on the theme of: ‘Conflict prevention and the protection of minorities’ 2 December 2021 Excellencies Ladies and gentlemen, Let me start by expressing my regret that I could not join you in person for this important discussion. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the Special Rapporteur, Dr. Fernand de Varennes, for placing on the agenda of this Forum the important theme of: ‘Conflict prevention and the protection of minorities’ This topic goes to the core of my mandate and the mandate of my Office. As the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, I am mandated to monitor and raise alarm over situations across the world where there is a risk of genocide and related atrocity crimes, by which I mean crimes against humanity and war crimes. In addition, my mandate, and that of my Office, is to raise awareness on the causes and dynamics of these crimes to strengthen capacity of Member States, regional organizations, civil society, and local communities to prevent them. In short, it is my role to raise the alarm and advocate and recommend specific prevention action. From history we know that atrocity crimes, and genocide, are not random or spontaneous events, neither do they occur in a vacuum. Genocide constitutes the end point of a process which develops over time, with several risk factors and warning signs present. In my Office we have developed a tool for identifying and analyzing these risk factors and early warning signs, based on our experience as well as through extensive consultations and research on past instances where atrocity crimes have been committed. We use this tool, published in 2014, called the ‘Framework for Analysis’ to identify the most common risk factors and early warning