Auschwitz Institute awarded £1m Jo Cox Grant for genocide prevention project in Africa

The project aims to educate and equip stakeholders across Africa’s Great Lakes region to “recognise the warning signs of mass atrocities and respond to them before they can escalate”.

The Great Lakes region encompasses countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.  

Tibi Galis, the Executive Director of AIPG, said that “more than 70 years after the Holocaust, genocide and other mass atrocities remain a constant threat.

“This grant will enable us to build stability in vulnerable areas of Africa and achieve our primary objective of training public officials in genocide and mass atrocity prevention by reducing the risk of identity-based violence,” she continued.

The grant will enable the Auschwitz Institute to run 12 schemes across the Great Lakes region of Africa, including community programmes and the formation of “national committees to prevent mass atrocities”.

Owen Pell, AIPG President and partner of counsel at White & Case, a law firm that provides legal counsel to AIPG, said in a statement that the money would enable the Auschwitz Institute to “make a huge and immediate impact to communities currently at risk”.