The date was established in 2015 by the UN General Assembly recognizing the need to promote effective mechanisms for its prevention in the future.

The International Day insists on two key aspects assumed by the member states in the Convention on Genocide: the prevention and punishment of crime.

According to what has been established, countries must promote the clarification of the truth and the healing of wounds, a culture of education for peace, social cohesion, and respect for diversity.

The UN also insists on recording past testimonies of victims and survivors and collecting them, creating and maintaining archives, and contributing to reducing cases of denial of genocide and glorification of war criminals.

According to the United Nations, it is now more relevant than ever to invest in genocide prevention, as envisaged 76 years ago by the drafters of the Convention.

The law classifies genocide as any act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, and recognizes actions such as the killing of members of the group; serious injury to their physical or mental integrity; or their intentional subjection to conditions of existence that will bring about their physical destruction, in whole or in part. It also warns against the use of measures intended to prevent births or the forcible transfer of children from one community to another.

Article two of the Convention classifies genocide as a crime under international law, whether committed in times of peace or in times of war.

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