FPA/SUNY Global Engagement Speaker Series 2026

Please join the Foreign Policy Association and the SUNY Global Engagement Program for the annual FPA/SUNY Global Engagement Speaker Series. This year’s speaker is Savita Pawnday, Executive Director at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. The title of her talk is “Preventing Atrocities in a Divided World: A Discussion with Savita Pawnday about Challenges and Hopes of Responsibility to Protect”.

The talk will be held at the SUNY Global Center, located at 116 East 55th Street, on Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. There will be a reception following the lecture until 8:00 pm.

You can register for tickets using the link on this website or by contacting [email protected].

About the Speaker:

With more than two decades of experience at the intersection of international human rights and global policy, Savita Pawnday is a passionate advocate, strategic leader, and expert on atrocity prevention and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). She serves as the Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the world’s leading advocacy organization advancing the R2P principle at the United Nations and beyond. The Centre was established in 2008 with the support of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other global human rights champions to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Savita has been at the forefront of the movement to turn the promise of R2P into action. She has spent over a decade advising governments, UN officials and regional organizations on how to operationalize atrocity prevention and strengthen early warning and response mechanisms. She routinely convenes high-level discussions with foreign ministers, senior diplomats and civil society actors to drive policy change and ensure that protection of civilians is central to international responses to crises. In 2010, she helped conceptualize and launch the Global Network of R2P Focal Points — now the largest platform of senior government officials committed to atrocity prevention — with over 60 member states. She is also a founding Steering Group member of Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC).

Throughout her tenure Savita has led the Global Centre’s engagement with the UN system on a wide range of issues, including peacekeeping, international justice, gender, women, peace and security, and country-specific crises such as Ethiopia, Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar (Burma), South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. She has helped shape global discourse on R2P through strategic advocacy, diplomatic engagement and widely published analysis. Her thought leadership has made her a sought-after speaker at international conferences, UN forums and academic institutions.

Savita’s approach to global policy is shaped by her lived experience and on-the-ground work. Before joining the Global Centre, she worked with Catholic Relief Services in Southern Africa, led development projects with grassroots NGOs in India, and served low-income communities in New York through Trickle Up. This grounding in local realities continues to inform her global advocacy today.

She holds an M.A. in Political Economy and Development from Fordham University, with a focus on the political economy of civil wars, and a B.A. in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai. Born and raised in India, Savita brings a deeply global perspective to her work and remains committed to advancing inclusive multilateralism and principled leadership in international affairs.