2015 El Hassan bin Talal Post-‐war Reconstruction and

2015 El Hassan bin Talal Post-­‐war Reconstruction and Development Annual Lecture Lieutenant-­‐General (ret.) Romeo Dallaire Ending the use of Child Soldiers from a Preventative Security Sector Perspective 18 February 2015 || 18:30 GMT|| University of York, UK Tickets available online at http://dallaire-­‐york.eventbrite.co.uk/ The University of York and the Post-­‐war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) are very pleased to announce the 2015 El Hassan Bin Talal Annual Lecture. Lieutenant-­‐
General (ret.) Romeo Dallaire will be speaking on the topic of Ending the use of Child Soldiers from a Preventive Security Sector Perspective. This lecture is the seventh El Hassan bin Talal Annual Lecture. BIOGRAPHY OF ROMEO DALLAIRE Romeo Dallaire is a retired Lieutenant-­‐General and world-­‐renowned humanitarian. In 2014, he stepped down from the Canadian Senate to devote himself to his work as the president of The Romeo Dallaire Foundation. As the founder of the Child Soldiers Initiative and as a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention, Romeo Dallaire has been an outspoken advocate and campaigner for: genocide prevention; human rights; Post-­‐Traumatic Stress Disorder; the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine; nuclear non-­‐proliferation; and most especially, the prevention of the use of child soldiers. Throughout his military career, General Dallaire served in command positions in peacekeeping operations around the globe. Most notably, he served as Force Commander for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) prior to, and during, the 1994 genocide. He is author of two best-­‐selling books. His first book, Shake Hands with the Devil – the Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, documents his harrowing first-­‐hand experience of the genocide in Rwanda. His most recent book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children – the Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers, articulates his mission to prevent the use of child soldiers in current conflicts. Romeo Dallaire’s book on Rwanda, and the subsequent films of his efforts to prevent this atrocity, stand as a testament to both the best, and the worst, of humankind in situations of unimaginable violence and depredation. General Dallaire has demonstrated unwavering strength, commitment and integrity in the field of humanitarianism. It is a matter of public record that, as the commander of the UN Peacekeeping in Rwanda from 1993-­‐94, he provided the United Nations with accurate and actionable information about the planned massacres in that country. However, he was denied requests to increase his troop levels; he was denied permission to intervene preventively; and, he was instructed to withdraw UN peacekeeping forces from Rwanda. However, he refused to withdraw his troops. Instead, he remained there to fulfill what he felt was his ethical obligation to protect those who sought protection from UN forces. Through his actions, and those of his multinational peacekeeping force, Romeo Dallaire is credited with saving Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit
University of York, Derwent College, YORK, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom
tel: + 44 1904 32 26 40 || em: prdu@york.ac.uk || w: www.york.ac.uk/prdu
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32,000 people. It is estimated that, in just over a 100-­‐days, between 800,000 and 1.1 million innocent children, women, and men were slaughtered. The experience of the Rwandan genocide has had a profound impact on Romeo Dallaire. Yet, he has continued to work tirelessly and passionately to animate a global partnership of organisations committed to ending the use and recruitment of child soldiers worldwide. The recent unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2143, which recommends training in child protection for militaries, police and peacekeepers, is an example of the concrete impact produced by the tireless work of the Romeo Dallaire. General Dallaire is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec, and a Commander of the Order of Military Merit. He received the United Nations Association of Canada’s Pearson Peace Medal, the Harvard University Humanist Award, and a host of other awards for his work. LINKING GENERAL DALLAIRE’S WORK TO THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK The work of Romeo Dallaire’s Foundation and his Child Soldier Initiative aligns with a number of units, centres, institutes and departments at the University of York – most directly with the teaching, research and applied work of the Post-­‐war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU), as well as the Centre for Applied Human Rights, and the Institute for Effective Education (IEE), and the Department of Politics. Thus, for example, the recent UNICEF-­‐funded collaborative project by Post-­‐war Reconstruction and Development Unit and the IEE on Education and Peacebuilding in Somalia supported the use of education in the prevention of child soldier recruitment and in the retraining and rehabilitation of former child soldiers. More broadly, the commitment to Human Rights promotion and genocide prevention falls well within the research and teaching of the Centre for Applied Human Rights, including its Human Rights Defenders Programme. PRDU’s Programme in International Humanitarian Affairs both conducts research on pressing humanitarian issues, including response to the needs of children in disasters; further, through its on-­‐line MSc in International Humanitarian Affairs, it trains humanitarian workers directly in the field where child soldiers are being used, and where the risk of social and militarized violence is high. Throughout the university in a wide range of departments, there are dozens of faculty members whose personal research programmes touch directly on the issues engaged by Romeo Dallaire. WEB LINKS Romeo Dallaire Child Soldier Initiative http://www.childsoldiers.org Professional Web Site http://www.romeodallaire.com Review of Shake Hands with the Devil http://www.accord.org.za/publications/book-­‐reviews/606-­‐shake-­‐hands-­‐with-­‐the-­‐devil-­‐the-­‐failure-­‐of-­‐
humanity-­‐in-­‐rwanda Review of Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-­‐and-­‐media/they-­‐fight-­‐like-­‐soldiers-­‐they-­‐die-­‐like-­‐children-­‐
by-­‐romeo-­‐dallaire/article1216417/ El Hassan bin Talal Annual Lecture Since its inauguration by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal in 2008, the eponymous annual lecture has been organized by the Post-­‐
war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU), and generously supported by the University of York International Office and the Office of the Vice Chancellor. The lecture series seeks to promote public understanding of post-­‐war reconstruction and development issues. Past keynote speakers have included: the former Afghan Minister of the Interior Haneef Atmar; former Commissioner-­‐General of the United Nations Relief and Workers Agency (UNRWA) Karen AbuZayd; the former Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chancellor of the Australian National University, Gareth Evans; the President and CEO of the Since its ionauguration by H
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tel: + 44 1904 32 26 40 || em: prdu@york.ac.uk || w: www.york.ac.uk/prdu
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