Trigger Warning: This toolkit contains content that addresses sensitive and potentially distressing topics, including genocide, mass atrocities, and their impacts. Some materials may include graphic descriptions, survivor testimonies, and historical images that depict violence and suffering. Contact the STF Team with questions or concerns.
Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month is held each April to honor the victims of genocide.
This toolkit has background information, case studies, documentaries and video testimonies of survivors, and other resources to help students and teachers learn about genocide and what can be done to stop it from happening again.
Family photographs of some of those who died are displayed in an exhibition at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Photo by AP
What Constitutes Genocide?
The United Nations defines Genocide as: Any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group:
- killing members of the group;
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The intent is the most difficult element to determine. To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent to physically destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, which makes it unique from other crimes. Cultural destruction or dispersing a group does not qualify. Victims are deliberately targeted because of their real or perceived membership in one of the four protected groups under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, not as individuals. Genocide can also target a substantial and identifiable part of a group, even within a specific area (United Nations).
Click on each button to jump to that section
Case Study Examples of Major 20th and 21st Century Genocides
Click on the name of each genocide to explore detailed case studies and learn more about these historical events.
1915 – 1923
Armenian Genocide
1933 – 1945
The Holocaust
1975 – 1980
Cambodia Genocide
1982 – 1983
Guatemala Genocide
April – July 1994
Genocide Against
the Tutsi
July 1995:
Srebrenica Genocide
2003 – 2006
Genocide in Darfur, Sudan
August 2014
Possible Genocide Against the Yezidi
June 2012 – Present
Genocide Against the Rohingya
May 2014 – Present
Possible Genocide in Xinjiang, China
April 2023 – Present
Genocide in The Sudan
October 2023 – Present
Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza
Educational Resources
Advocacy Opportunities: Genocide Awareness and Prevention
We’ve compiled a list of impactful event ideas to help you observe Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. Each category offering unique ways to educate your community, honor victims and survivors, and take meaningful steps toward preventing future atrocities.
Amplifying Voices
Educate your campus about genocide and how to prevent it using STF’s Event Ideas and Multimedia List. These lists offer a variety of resources that foster empathy, promote critical thinking, and inspire students to become informed advocates for human rights.
Raising Awareness
Bring visibility to the issue of genocide and inspire collective action within the school community. Center the voices of survivors by organizing art and story exhibits, hosting pledge and awareness tables, or running social media campaigns.
Mobilizing Action
Empower your community to turn knowledge into impactful action. Brainstorm initiatives that focus on addressing genocide prevention through policy advocacy, raising awareness of relevant organizations, and organizing events that honor victims and survivors.
Click here to see STF’s Genocide Awareness and Prevention Event Ideas. Contact the STF Team for all resources and learn more.
Take Action: If You Only Have...
60 seconds
- Bookmark this toolkit for quick access
- Create google alerts for “genocide”, “genocide awareness”, and “genocide prevention” to stay current on this action plan
5 minutes
- Read this glossary of important vocabulary related to genocide
- Explore the Genocide Multimedia List and watch one of the videos
30 minutes
- Read the Case Study Examples of Major 20th and 21st Century Genocides
Educator's Portal - Lesson Plans
For educators looking to teach students about genocide awareness and prevention, please explore the resources below to foster understanding, critical thinking, and action in promoting human rights.
The Pyramid of Hate
Lesson Plan, Video and Worksheet: These classroom resources are designed to teach students about the effects and consequences of bigotry and intolerance. The Pyramid of Hate demonstrates the ways in which hate can escalate in society and result in genocide.
Grades: 9-12
Facing History & Ourselves
These materials include historical overviews, student activities, and frameworks for discussing genocide and its prevention. They also provide resources for teaching books like Night by Elie Wiesel, which integrates literature and history to foster empathy and critical thinking.
Grades: 9-12
Confronting Genocide: Never Again
How should the United States respond to genocide? This genocide curriculum is divided in two parts and allows students to wrestle with the reasons why local actors, the international community, and the United States responded as they have to various cases of genocide over the past century.
Grades: 9-12
World Without Genocide
These educational resources work to prevent genocide by combating racism and prejudice; advocate for the prosecution of perpetrators; and remember those whose lives and cultures have been destroyed by violence.
Grades: 9-12