Recommendation 8

The Government must introduce a cross-departmental strategy for preventing and responding to mass atrocities globally, both within and outside of conflicts. It must strive for greater consistency of purpose across Government. The strategy must: a) support development by considering prevention at all stages of the policy cycle, recognising that prevention must begin before judicial determinations, and should continue even if atrocities are committed; b) clarify training, tools and methods to prevent atrocities, including the role of the UK’s new sanctions regime; c) demonstrate and formalise how the UK will act in concert with like-minded international partners, particularly the United States; d) be inclusive to the many groups at risk of atrocities and recognise the wider circumstances that can drive discrimination and persecution, such as grievances, political marginalisation and criminal economies; e) prioritise the mitigation of atrocity risks across the whole of Government, including trade, supply chains, arms exports, education, asylum and border policy; f) take account of new threats and challenges, including new technology, climate change and the wide range of conflict actors; and g) build on the UK’s positive efforts to secure justice for Ukrainian victims and consider how these can be applied to other contexts.