A/HRC/7/37 page 5 I. INTRODUCTION 1. In April 2004, on the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, the Secretary-General announced a five-point action plan for the prevention of genocide. 2. In a letter dated 12 July 2004 (S/2004/567), the Secretary-General informed the President of the Security Council of his decision to establish the mandate of Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. In his reply of 13 July 2004 (S/2004/568), the President indicated that the Council had taken note of that decision. The Secretary-General appointed Juan Méndez as the first Special Adviser, effective 1 August 2004. 3. In its resolution 2005/62, the Commission on Human Rights requested the Secretary-General to make available to the Commission at its sixty-second session a report on the implementation of the Five-Point Action Plan and on the activities of the Special Adviser. In March 2006, the Secretary-General submitted a report (E/CN.4/2006/84) on the implementation of the Plan and the activities of the Special Adviser. 4. The Secretary-General appointed Francis Deng as successor to Juan Méndez, effective 1 August 2007. On 28 September 2007, in its resolution 6/104, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to make available to the Council at its seventh session an updated report. The present report is submitted pursuant to that request. The report provides an update on developments concerning the United Nations framework for the prevention of genocide and a description of the activities of the Special Adviser. II. DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK FOR THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE A. Five-Point Action Plan to prevent genocide 5. In his report of 7 April 2004 (E/CN.4/2006/84), the Secretary-General outlined a Five-Point Action Plan to prevent genocide, which included (a) preventing armed conflict; (b) protection of civilians in armed conflict; (c) ending impunity through judicial action in both national and international courts; (d) early and clear warning of situations that could potentially degenerate into genocide and the development of a United Nations capacity to analyse and manage information; and (e) swift and decisive action along a continuum of steps. Updates on the implementation of the Plan are provided in a series of reports by the Secretary-General. 6. Developments on preventing armed conflict, point (a) of the Five-Point Action Plan, are presented in the progress report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict (A/60/891). According to the report, a culture of prevention was evolving at the United Nations and considerable progress had been made at both the international and the national levels, with new tools and mechanisms being developed. Noting that there nonetheless remained a gap between rhetoric and reality, the Secretary-General examined the potential for operational and structural prevention and introduced the concept of systemic prevention, involving measures to address global risks of conflict that transcend particular States. The report also contains a review of efforts to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations and the gaps that needed to be addressed so that the Organization could better fulfil its preventive mission.