Annual Report 2013/2014

Annual Report 2013/2014 UN Photo: Stuart Price Welcome Letter We are pleased to share with you—our supporters, partners, friends and champions— highlights of the achievements and work conducted by the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative in 2013-2014. This past year has been a remarkable period of growth and progress for the Dallaire Initiative, moving us forward in our mission to end the use and recruitment of child soldiers globally. At the tail end of 2013, both the Central African Republic and South Sudan erupted into Our Story: countrywide conflict. Child soldiers, in the thousands, have been reported as taking part in the hostilities. The link between the use of child soldiers and the escalation and severity of conflict cannot be underestimated. Despite pledges to never again allow such mass atrocities to take place, the international community continues to focus their resources on responding to crisis rather than on prevention efforts. It is time for new solutions. Founded by retired lieutenant- general and celebrated We believe that the use of children as soldiers is a tactical and strategic element of current humanitarian Roméo Dallaire, conflicts that must be addressed with innovative ideas. Through our work with the security sectors, policy makers, international organizations, children and communities we are we are a global partnership unlocking new strategies for conflict prevention. Our proactive, targeted and preventative committed to ending the approach is unique in the world. It draws on years of knowledge and experience gained use and recruitment of child through working with key partners in the field and leverages this knowledge with those soldiers worldwide. that are committed to ending this crime against humanity. The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative is We look forward to this coming year and continued action on the ground that will pilot building prevention-oriented trainings, rigorous new approaches, reach new trainees and communities, and to expand the depth of our research and high-level advocacy. knowledge. We are indebted to all of our supporters for their belief in our Initiative and commitment to making the world a better place. In every aspect of our programming, we seek to collaborate with concerned governments, security sector actors, academics, humanitarians and communities. Our unique approach to working with the security sector is both groundbreaking and critical to the interruption of children’s recruitment. This report highlights the progress we’ve made over the last year with the support and encouragement of our donors, partners, graduates, staff and friends. Together we are LGen Roméo A. Dallaire (ret’d) Dr. Shelly Whitman making bold steps towards our ultimate goal, UN Photo: Tobin Jones to end the use and recruitment of child soldiers Founder Executive Director worldwide. 1 2 Trainingand Handbook The Dallaire Initiative has developed the world’s ﬁrst security sector-focused preventative training on the subject of child soldiers To date, we have trained 715 security sector actors from more than 60 countries around the globe. We are actively expanding the numbers of people and countries we reach by developing train the trainer programs, translating our materials, and developing online versions of our program. On February 12th 2014, we released the second edition of our practical handbook for security In Focus: The Pearson sector actors dealing with child soldiers - for the first time in both French and English. This Centre edition builds on the experiences and research we have gathered from the field. Child Soldiers: A Handbook for Security Sector Actors provides security sector actors— On November 29th, 2013 the venerable military, police, peacekeepers and prison personnel— with updated tools, skills and Pearson Centre closed its doors. To knowledge to prevent the use and recruitment of child soldiers. Please download a copy ensure the continuation of its work and from our website: www.childsoldiers.org/handbook legacy, the Pearson Centre identified The second edition features: strategic partners to gift its intellectual and financial assets to. The Dallaire Core Competencies: provide critical knowledge for all security sector trainings related to Initiative was one of these partners. We In-focus: E-Learning interactions with child soldiers. are grateful for the Pearson Centre’s Course Country Reports: provide important information related to the use of child soldiers in generosity and belief in our work. This specific countries Moving beyond the classroom, our training gift will enable the Dallaire Initiative will be available through an e-learning Updated Interaction Charts: these charts provide step-by-step procedures for specific to continue to work at advancing our course co-developed with the United situations related to child soldiers. shared vision of peace, while ensuring Nations Institute for Training and Research. that children are not used as weapons This course will help train security sector The second edition of Child Soldiers: A Handbook for Security Sector Actors was made of war. personnel on the issue of child soldiers. possible through the generous support from the members of Unifor , the United States Photo: Dallaire Initiative This e-learning course will launch in 2014. Institute of Peace and Power Corporation of Canada. IAMGOLD provided an in-kind donation for the French translation. 3 4 Photo: The Dallaire Initiative Sierra Photo: The Dallaire Initiative Leone Photo: The Dallaire Initiative Photo: The Dallaire Initiative Once the place of mass recruitment and use of some 10,000 child soldiers, Sierra Leone has established itself as a key African peacekeeping nation. The government of Sierra Leone is partnering with the Dallaire Initiative to introduce a In-focus: AMISOM Pre- holistic approach to the issue of child soldiers. Through training with their military, police Deployment Training and prison services, along with developing and delivering a primary school program to educate children on the dangers of recruitment, Sierra Leone is taking proactive action to In March 2014, the Dallaire Initiative end the use and recruitment of child soldiers on the African Continent. participated in the training of the Sierra Leone army’s LEOBATT2—an army In the past year the Dallaire Initiative has trained 140 Sierra Leonean security personnel unit—deploying to the AMISOM mission. and piloted new teacher training resources to be delivered in primary schools. In the AMISOM is a joint UN and African Union coming years we will focus on making this training self-sustaining, locally powered, and peacekeeping mission in Somalia. We widely available through train-the-trainer programs. We will look at ways to reach more trained 41 commanders who will be leaders children both in and out of schools with youth radio programs and comic books. within the Battalion while on mission. Our training has prepared these troops with Sierra Leone will be the world’s first country to institute this training nationwide. It will preventative tactics and tools for encounters create a model that may be replicated and adapted country by country to prevent the use of with child soldiers. This will help reduce child soldiers. harm and interrupt the cycle of forced recruitment of children in Somalia. Our work in Sierra Leone is made possible by the generous support of the members of Unifor. We are grateful for their encouragement and solidarity with our work. We would also like to thank Joe Skeff and the Protec team for their generosity and support for our Photo: The Dallaire Initiative work 5 6 Research Our research is generating new information, and critical insight on the subject of children Select Academic Publications and armed conﬂict Ungar, M., Whitman, S., Hart, A., & Phipps, D. (Manuscript submitted for Children Used in Maritime Piracy publication). “A simulation excercise to problem solve knowledge mobilization The Dallaire Initiative continues to establish itself as a global thought leader on the issue strategies for youth services.” Gateways: of children used in maritime piracy. This phenomenon is seldom documented and poorly International Journal of Community Research and Engagement. understood. Our ultimate goal is to develop tactical solutions for the security sector at sea and preventative programming for communities on shore. Whitman, S., and Liebenberg, L. (in press). Understanding the Experiences In October 2013, the Dallaire Initiative and the Dalhousie Marine Piracy Project and Challenges of Former Child Soldiers assembled over 20 naval personnel, private security actors, maritime lawyers, commercial Integrating into Canadian Society. In L. merchants and child protection experts to discuss the problem of child maritime piracy. Theron, L. Liebenberg, and M. Ungar This roundtable identified a pressing gap in knowledge—the lack of rules and procedures (Eds.), Youth Resilience and Culture - for the detention and transfer of children used in maritime piracy. To investigate this Commonalities and Complexities. New issue, the Dallaire Initiative conducted a four-week research mission to Kenya and the York, NY: Springer. Seychelles. This mission accumulated quantitative data that demonstrates the prevalence of children’s involvement in maritime piracy and assesses current detention procedures. Conradi, Carl. “Child Trafficking, Child Soldiering: Exploring the Relationship Dallaire Scholarship between Two ‘worst Forms’ of Child Labour.” Third World Quarterly 34.7 Viviana Montoya

Load more