What We Do

As global leaders in the fight against child soldiers, we are progressively ending the use of child soldiers through a security sector approach.

We are global leaders in the fight against child soldiers

No individual country or regional organization has yet developed coherent policies, or military and police doctrine for dealing with child soldiers during peace operations. Our unique approach working with military, police and peacekeeping forces—often the first point of contact for child soldiers—is breaking new ground, and is a critical part of interrupting the cycle of recruitment of children by armed groups.

Our focus goes beyond child protection–in order to solve this problem it must be seen as a security concern and security sector actors must be included as part of the solution. Through this prevention-oriented approach, we aim to create the necessary tools and training, supported by research, to better protect children from recruitment, and in so doing, help end this crime against humanity, community-by-community, country-by-country, once and for all.

Training

We deliver tactical, prevention-oriented training to security sector actors, to promote broader security sector reform.

Our preventative training changes attitudes, behaviours and policies of security sector actors, allowing them to counter-act the issue of child soldiers effectively. The Dallaire Initiative’s training produces better, more specialized soldiers, police, and peacekeepers. This represents a strategic investment that over the long term produces more cost-effective solutions.

Research

We conduct world-class interdisciplinary research to build – and share – knowledge, which in turn leads to new solutions.

Dalhousie University is the institutional home for the Dallaire Initiative. It situates the project within a uniquely rich, interactive and collaborative environment. As part of Dalhousie University, the Dallaire Initiative is able to draw upon the expertise of a variety of academic disciplines, as well as to inspire students, faculty, staff and alumni to make significant contributions to the world.

Advocacy

We engage in high-level advocacy activities to create and promote the political will to end the use of children as soldiers.

Our advocacy efforts focus on creating policy change at the highest levels of governments and organizations such as the United Nations and NATO. Through putting children’s rights up front, we build momentum towards protecting societies most vulnerable while creating a point of collaboration for the international community to rally around.