To a large extent, the legal and non-legal response during the genocide was ineffective and insufficient, however responses succeeding the event proved to be increasingly effective. During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, it is clear that the aid and military response of the UN was highly ineffective, closely followed by the inaction of many powerful nation-states, often to avoid political instability or loss. Non-legal responses to the genocide such as NGO's and international media were effective in the attempt of upholding human rights and spreading awareness, however were not profoundly effective due to the sustained atrocities for four months. Despite the ultimately ineffective nature of legal and non-legal response during the genocide, the subsequent responses proved to be effective by contributing to a degree of justice, closure and education about the event to discourage similar atrocities from occurring in future. .
The legal response to the Rwandan genocide during the event was highly ineffective in assisting the situation, as seen through the actions of the UN and individual nation states. The actions of the UN proved to be significantly ineffective as the Rwandan genocide remains to be seen as on of the biggest failures on the behalf of the organization. The United Nations Security Council demonstrated extreme incompetence by gathering a force of 5000 troops, but failing to organize them to arrive in Rwanda in time, before the conclusion of the genocide. The United Nations also created the UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda), however this also proved slow to deploy, ultimately contributing to it's infectivity. This mission was also limited by its strict mandate, portraying the aim of the mission to be for monitoring, humanitarian assistance, contribution to safety, but disallowing troops any significant military engagement such as using weapons. However the United Nations did contribute in many ways to humanitarian aid through creating Displaced Person Camps, providing aid funds and calling on other UN branches such as UNICEF and the UNHCR to assist in the crisis.