The Child Soldiers Initiative is a special partnership of organizations who bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in the topics of conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping, peacekeeping training, child protection, human rights, forced child labor, as well as research into conflict, war-affected children and youth, violence and youth gangs and also theology. OUR PARTNERS CURRENTLY INCLUDE: Lieutenant-General the Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, O.C., C.M.M., G.O.Q., M.S.C., C.D., (Ret'd) Appointed to the Senate of Canada in March of 2005, LGen. Dallaire served with the Canadian Forces for more than three decades before retiring as a Lieutenant-General. In 1993, he took command of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), a post in which he and his limited number of troops witnessed the killing of more than 800,000 Rwandans in a period of little more than three months. Since his retirement, Senator Dallaire has worked to bring an understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the wider Canadian public. He served as a Special Advisor to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on matters relating to war-affected children around the world and to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the non-proliferation of small arms. He has been named Fellow of the Ryerson Polytechnic University and has received Honoria causa doctorates from numerous Canadian universities. In 2002, LGen Dallaire received the Order of Canada and in 2005 was presented with the United Nations Association of Canada's Pearson Peace Medal. LGen Dallaire spent the 2004-2005 academic year as a Fellow at Harvard University's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy where he directed in-depth research into the problem of Child Soldiers. http://www.romeodallaire.com/ Dalhousie University, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies The Child Soldiers Initiative is housed and managed at Dalhousie University’s Centre for Foreign Policy Studies. The Centre for Foreign Policy Studies is an integral part of the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University. It is concerned with teaching, research, publishing, policy advising, and other professional activities in the fields of Canadian and American foreign, security and defense policy, maritime security policy, and human security and global development studies. The Centre organizes a seminar series each year, hosts visiting speakers, holds conferences and workshops, and has its own publication series. The Centre is a recipient of the Department of National Defense's Security and Defence Forum grant. This gives the Centre strong links to institutions across the country engaged in security, development and defence research. http://www.centreforforeignpolicystudies.dal.ca Search for Common Ground Search for Common Ground (SFCG), the Secretariat of the Child Soldiers Initiative, is an international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to change the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches toward cooperative solutions. With programs in more than 17 countries, SFCG works with sectors of society that have significant impacts on conflicts including governments, militaries and non-state armed actors, civil society, women, and youth. The organization's Children and Youth programs seek to transform the role of young people in conflicts so that they have concrete alternatives to violence and can significantly contribute to building sustainable peace. SFCG is committed to fostering the participation of youth as leaders for peacebuilding, dialogue, and reconciliation. This is accomplished through three operational methods: formal and non-formal education, providing platforms for them to have voice in society, and creating opportunities for them to take concrete action in their communities. In partnership with USAID's Displaced Children and Orphans' Fund SFCG co-hosts the Washington Network on Children and Armed Conflict. http://www.sfcg.org/ Pearson Peacekeeping Centre The Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) is a not-for-profit, Canadian-based institution dedicated to improving the effectiveness of peace operations around the world. Using a multi-disciplinary and activity-based learning approach, the PPC teaches and trains those who serve in conflict zones including civilians, military personnel and police officers. Since its inception in 1994, the PPC has trained over 15,000 individuals from 140 nations in 31 countries. This track record has earned the Centre an internationally distinguished reputation. The PPC's mission to enhance the effectiveness of peace operations through training, research and capacity building reflects the values that are cherished by Canadians such as human rights, the rule of law, international stability, collective security and diplomatic primacy. http://www.peaceoperations.org/ University of Victoria, School of Child and Youth Care The University of Victoria, one of Canada's leading universities, has earned a reputation for commitment to research, scholarship and co-op education. The university is widely recognized for its innovative and responsive programs and interdisciplinary and international initiatives. The university provides leadership in the areas of social advocacy, education, research and professional development while supporting the initiative of others in enhancing services, public policies, the evolution of the field and the promotion of social justice. http://www.uvic.ca/ http://www.cyc.uvic.ca/index.php University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Theology and Global College The University of Winnipeg received its charter in 1967 but its roots date back more than 130 years. The founding colleges were Manitoba College (1871), and Wesley College (1888), which merged to form United College in 1938. The University of Winnipeg, located in the heart of Canada, is a compact, diverse, multicultural academic community committed to access and excellence. The University of Winnipeg is a provincially and privately funded post-secondary institution with undergraduate and select graduate programs, as well as Collegiate and Continuing Education divisions. Under the leadership of The Honourable Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, the University of Winnipeg is developing a public policy component in all its programs. Both the Global College of the University and the Faculty of Education have a special emphasis on war affected children, and the Faculty of Theology is engaged in the development both of a Centre for Theology and Progressive Public Policy and an Institute for the Study of Religion and Global Policy. Dr. Tom Faulkner, Associate Professor of Church & Society, leads the university contribution to the CSI. The University is taking the lead in a campaign to establish Winnipeg as a Human Rights City, and established a Bachelor of Arts in Human Rights in the autumn of 2007, partly in response to the University's collaboration with the CSI. http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/ UNICEF Canada UNICEF Canada is part of an international network that includes UNICEF National Committees in industrialized countries and UNICEF field offices in countries that receive UNICEF co-operation assistance. UNICEF works for and with children in more than 150 countries and territories, advocating for children's rights, ensuring that their basic needs are met and enabling them to reach their full potential. UNICEF's programming priorities include child rights, information, advocacy and public policy; primary education; child mortality reduction; and child protection. UNICEF is also present whenever emergencies strike, working to ensure the well-being and development of children. Since the mid-1980s, UNICEF has played a key role in advocating and securing the release of children from armed forces and other combatant groups among state and non-state actors. UNICEF and its NGO partners have also provided care, technical guidance and, at times, financial support for the successful implementation of national programs for disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and rehabilitation of child combatants and other children held captive by armed groups. http://www.unicef.ca Ishmael Beah Ishmael Beah is a former child soldier, and the author of the memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Currently UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War, Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. He moved to the United States in 1998 and finished his last two years of high school at the United Nations International School in New York. In 2004 he graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in political science. He is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities (CETO) at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, and many other NGO panels on children affected by the war. His work has appeared in Vespertine Press and LIT magazine. He lives in New York City. http://www.alongwaygone.com/ War Child Canada War Child Canada provides humanitarian aid and development assistance to children and their families caught in the crossfire of war, and advocates on their behalf. War Child Canada accomplishes this by empowering local families, communities and grassroots organizations and by developing respectful partnerships that focus on local capacity building and sustainable development. In addition, War Child Canada works to generate awareness, support and action for children's rights everywhere. It achieves this, in part, by engaging children and youth in North America, giving these future leaders the tools and knowledge they need to affect change and to realize their full potential as global citizens. http://www.warchild.ca