Special Representative of UN Secretary General: It is necessary to  inculcate respect for diversity; disrespect for diversity is the root  of most conflicts 

ArmInfo. 70 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, certain achievements in the protection of human  rights can be stated. Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on  the Prevention of Genocide, said this on December 10 at the opening  of the Global Forum "Against the Crime of Genocide" in Yerevan. 

However, as the UN Special Adviser pointed out, today there are  certain difficulties, and the genocides of the last decades testify  to this. "In various places of the world, not only an increase in  tension on religious and ethnic factors is observed but also  manifestations of it have become worse," Dieng said. According to  Adama Dieng such developments can be overcome first of all with the  help of education. It all starts with education, because it is an  essential tool.

Education is a necessity, so that people understand that it is not  the skin color that determines the person, that one god is not  stronger than another, that the culture of one people is not richer  than another. Diversity complements, not divides. Education should  start from home, from parents, from school and teachers, from a very  early age. Culture also plays a significant role, "he emphasized.  According to him, no one is immune from such phenomena. In this  context, the fight against intolerance must continue every day, and  such crimes must meet an adequate response. According to Dieng, only  by joint efforts state and civil society can make progress on this  issue. "It is necessary to inculcate respect for diversity.  Disrespect for diversity is the root of most of the conflicts, "the  Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General concluded. 

The UN General Assembly in Paris adopted the Convention on the  Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on December 9,  1948. The Convention establishes the international legal status of  the concept of "genocide" as a grave crime against humanity. It also  represents the culmination of the many years of struggle of the  Polish lawyer of Jewish origin, Rafael Lemkin, for the establishment  of a legal responsibility for the extermination of ethnic groups and  the international community's recognition of genocide as a crime  against humanity. Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Turkey is the  first genocide of the twentieth century.