UN Deliberations on a Treaty for the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity
United Nations Member States are engaged in a multi-year process of drafting and negotiating a new treaty on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.
The Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity met in session from January 19-30, 2026.
IAW submitted a written statement and had the privilege of delivering an oral intervention during the proceedings on Tuesday January 20, 2026. IAW’s oral intervention may be viewed here (@ minute 51:58). The text of the oral statement is below:
Distinguished Dignitaries and Civil Society Organization Colleagues:
International Alliance of Women supports your ambitious work to advance and strengthen a convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.
Our Alliance works to secure every Member State’s ratification without reservations, and implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
This Convention links with the UN Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda and the UN Human Rights Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls. The Alliance joins the Working Group and distinguished bodies in their support for formal recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
We challenge the position that Member States have the primary responsibility to prevent and punish crimes against humanity, because the fact is, that women are victims and survivors of systemic oppression and the principle that women and girls are at the center of the fight for justice.
We believe that a treaty on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity depends on a significant increase in women’s meaningful participation in negotiations.
Our Alliance will continue to engage and support women in local communities around the world. We ask you to stand in solidarity with us. Together we will raise awareness of the means to prevent and punish crimes against humanity and embolden women to claim their fundamental human rights.
IAW’s written statement, drafted under the guidance of president Alison Brown, may be accessed here.
IAW remains actively engaged in the pursuit of a comprehensive victim and survivor centered treaty on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity through its involvement with a newly formed coalition of international NGOs.
IAW representatives at UNHQ, Jill Follows, Jessica Pierson, and Thalia Brown, wrote a detailed Resource Guide: Gender Perspective for the proposed UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.
Jill Follows, our Main Representative at UN New York
