A/HRC/7/37 page 7 B. Responsibility to protect 11. The 2005 World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) adopted by the General Assembly at the High-level Plenary Meeting of its sixtieth session includes a section on responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, in which Member States declared that each individual State had the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity (para. 138). Member States recognized that the international community, through the United Nations, also had a responsibility to assist States to meet their protection obligations and to respond in cases of manifest failure (para. 139). The Assembly emphasizes early warning, prevention and support from the international community in helping States build the capacity to protect. It is noteworthy that, in the resolution, the Assembly expressed full support for the mission of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. 12. When announcing the appointment of Francis Deng in May 2007, the Secretary-General stated that he was also exploring ways to strengthen United Nations efforts on the responsibility to protect. On 21 February 2008, the Secretary-General announced the appointment of Edward Luck as Special Adviser. The focus of the Special Adviser’s work will be the development of ideas relating to paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome to assist the General Assembly to continue consideration of the responsibility to protect. To that end, the Secretary-General requested Edward Luck to help develop proposals, through a broad consultative process, to be considered by States Members of the United Nations. C. Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Genocide 13. In May 2006, at the suggestion of the Special Adviser, the Secretary-General established the Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Genocide to provide guidance and support to the work of the Special Adviser and contribute to the broader efforts of the United Nations to prevent genocide. The Committee is composed of distinguished individuals with diverse backgrounds related to conflict prevention, human rights, peacekeeping, diplomacy and mediation.2 14. The Advisory Committee met at Headquarters in New York, in June and October 2006 and in September 2007, subsequently submitting confidential reports and recommendations to the Secretary-General. 15. Among other points, the Advisory Committee concluded that the Special Adviser would benefit from a broader title that would more readily facilitate examination of situations of massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law prior to genocide; should be able to address situations where the risk of genocide or other crimes against humanity is longer term rather than imminent; should have a direct formal reporting line to the 2 The Committee is composed of: David Hamburg (Chairman), Monica Andersson, Zackari Ibrahim, Gen. Roméo Dallaire, Gareth Evans, Roberto Garretón, Juan Méndez, Sadako Ogata and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. By virtue of his office, Francis Deng is also a member.