Designate Genocide Awareness, Prevention Month

Designate April as

Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month

Genocide victims from throughout history and around the world

After the Holocaust, leaders vowed that the world would never again sit by while millions of innocent people were slaughtered. But genocide and other mass atrocities continue to happen.

World Without Genocide encourages cities and states to designate April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. The designation raises awareness that we must protect innocent people, prosecute perpetrators, prevent future atrocities, and remember those who have suffered.

Why April? Several genocides have official memorialization dates in April: genocides of the Armenians, the Holocaust, Rwanda, Darfur, and Cambodia.

States that observe April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month include California, Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Texas. If your state has recently passed a resolution, please let us know at info@worldwithoutgenocide.org

Schools, faith communities, and other organizations can take this important step.

This designation provides an opportunity to hold events in April about past and current genocides and about steps to prevent hate and violence both locally and globally.

Actions

1. Email your state lawmakers

Time estimate: 10 minutes

Ask your state lawmakers to designate April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.

Look up if your state observes April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.
Find your state senator and representative online.
Use or modify our email template to send to your state lawmakers.

2. Email your local lawmakers

Time estimate: 10 minutes

Ask your state lawmakers to designate April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.

Search online if your city observes April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.
Find contact information for your city council members on your city’s website.
Use or modify our email template to send to your local lawmakers.

Learn more

Minnesota State Resolution for Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month (PDF) — Copy of the resolution passed in Minnesota.
My Story: Benno Black (PDF), World Without Genocide — Transcript of speech by Kindertransport survivor Benno Black at an event in St. Paul to commemorate Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month.

Minnesota

In 2011, the month of April was designated as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month in Minnesota, in recognition of the state’s desire to combat acts of genocide and human rights atrocities.

The state declared that in order to prevent future genocides and mass atrocities, effective prevention measures must be implemented before a crisis has erupted, and educating the public can help to protect individual rights and promote a culture of lawfulness to prevent future genocides.

States are encouraged to sponsor and support remembrance events that include survivors’ personal testimonies; films about genocides past and present; conferences about legal efforts to prosecute perpetrators; and workshops about the injustices of child soldiers, gender-based violence, and human trafficking, atrocities that occur in all mass conflicts.

Recognition of Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month is also urged for cities, municipalities, schools, and universities, to engage fully in making ‘never again’ truly mean ‘never.’

Legislative Action

In April 2013, both the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives supported the designation of April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month in Minnesota. This was signed into law by Governor Dayton in 2013. Several other states have passed similar bills, including California, Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Texas. Organizing a hearing at a state committee is an important tool to pass legislation. At this hearing, advocates and survivors share their personal stories to inform and engage with elected officials. This is one of the most important ways that members of survivor communities and their supporters can contribute to the passage of legislation.

The video below highlights a committee hearing organized by World Without Genocide that advanced the state of Minnesota’s effort to designate April as Genocide Awareness and Prevention month.

The video features testimony from survivors and advocates starting at 3:50.