A/HRC/FMI/2014/2 13. In its resolution 60/1 of 16 September 2005, the General Assembly adopted the 2005 World Summit Outcome, in which the Member States adopted a principle that is of prime importance to the protection of minorities — the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, more commonly known as “the responsibility to protect”.4 This concept recognizes that the responsibility to prevent atrocity crimes is no longer exclusive to the State but is a shared responsibility — a duty that lies first with the State but where the international community must play a role when a State is either unable to or fails to abide by its legal obligations. This includes the responsibility to provide assistance to States to fulfil their responsibility to protect their populations, and also to take collective action, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, when a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations. The Charter contains a wide range of tools for the use of Member States and the international community. Chapters VI, VII and VIII authorize the use of appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian or other collective action. A Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect has been appointed to further the conceptual, political, institutional and operational development of the principle of the responsibility to protect. IV. Issues for consideration 14. At the seventh session, the Forum will consider practical and concrete ways to prevent violence and atrocity crimes targeted against minorities and appropriate responses at national, regional and international levels. The Forum will take account of the fact that a great variety of countries and minority situations exist and that, consequently, different measures may be required according to the given context. The Forum will be informed by and build on the work of its previous sessions, namely those relating to minorities and the right to education, effective political participation, effective participation in economic life, the rights of minority women and girls, effective implementation of minority rights and the Declaration, and the rights of religious minorities. It will equally be informed by the work of the treaty bodies and the special procedures, and studies of the special advisers on the prevention of genocide and the responsibility to protect, and other national, regional and international actors. 15. Discussions at the Forum will centre on the key pillars of minority rights protection: protection of existence and prevention of violence against minorities; protection and promotion of minority identity; equality and non-discrimination; and the right to effective participation in all areas of public, economic and social life. The Forum will also be informed by the three pillars of the responsibility to protect: the State carries the primary responsibility for protecting populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and their incitement; the international community has a responsibility to encourage and assist States in fulfilling this responsibility; and the international community has a responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other means to protect populations from these crimes. If a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the international community must be prepared to take collective action to protect populations, in accordance with the Charter. 5 4 5 6 In July 2000, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights incorporated the right to intervene in a Member State as enshrined in Article 4(h) of its Constitutive Act, which states “[t]he right of the Union to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity”. See World Summit Outcome, A/RES/60/1, para. 139.