Women Leading in Building Peace and Security
September 17: Women Leading in Building Peace and Security
On September 17th, The Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security hosted a day-long workshop to spotlight the essential, yet often underrecognized role of women leaders in addressing critical peace and security challenges affecting children.
The workshop provided an in-depth exploration of the academic and technical aspects of peace and security through two panel sessions moderated by Dr. Julie Hyde, Director of Research and Knowledge Mobilization and Madeline Zutt, Policy and Advocacy Manager, both from the Dallaire Institute.
Dr. Kim Brooks, President and Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University kicked off the day by sharing a few thoughts around the subject matter and hopes for the day.
The morning panel, "Intersectionality of Harms: Impact of Armed Conflict & Violence on Children," brought together women dedicated to mitigating the effects of violence on women and children: Dr. Kate Swanson, professor and Canada Research Chair in International Peace, Security, and Children at Dalhousie, Charu Lata Hogg, founder and Executive Director of All-Survivors Project, and Dragica Mikavica, Programme Officer at the Office of the Special Representative to the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict
Discussions covered research conducted by the panelists that touched on areas that included:
Gender-related considerations about how both boys and girls can be exploited.
The profound physical, mental and health impacts on men and boys such as STDs and suffering from PTSD.
How the impacts of climate change and the devastation it can bring to a community can then force children to make the choice to rejoin armed groups because of financial need.
How communities who are trying to protect themselves from groups like cartels can inadvertently put guns in the hands of their children.
The afternoon panel, "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Breaking Cycles of Violence Against Children," featured another diverse group of female experts: Esther Omom, Executive Director of Reach Out Cameroon, Julia Freedson, Independent Consultant in child protection, child rights, and organizational strategy and Dr. Felicity Gray, Global Head of Policy and Advocacy at Nonviolent Peaceforce.
Key takeaways from the discussion included:
Localization across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus cannot be overstated— our work is not done.
The importance of nonviolent responses to conflict, especially as a strategy to break or interrupt cycles of violence, remains crucial.
Children must be included in peace processes. To ensure meaningful and ethical inclusion, adults need to meet children where they are—this requires flexibility and, more importantly, a willingness to challenge our own perspectives and ways of thinking.
It’s also important that we do not prioritize or elevate the voices of some children and women over others. Every voice matters in this work towards sustainable peace.
Following the two panels, participants had the opportunity to get a youth perspective from Indigenous Youth Climate Activist, Haana Edenshaw and Fatu Kaba, an award-winning peace activist, TEDx speaker, entrepreneur, and founder of HEARTS Global Network, a platform promoting peace, equity, and the arts.
The theme continued in a special evening discussion held at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on the Dalhousie University campus. The evening began with a performance by the two-time ECMA Award-winning Nova Scotia Mass Choir, their first live performance since COVID-19.
The moving performance was followed by Dean Sarah Harding of Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University who shared some insights into the topics of the day. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories then initiated the discussions via live video feed by sharing some profound thoughts around her work.
Dr. Shelly Whitman, Executive Director of the Dallaire Institute then took to the stage to moderate a panel discussion featuring Her Excellency Dr. Fatou Bensouda, Gambian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Muzna Dureid, a Syrian human rights activist and Advocacy Manager at the Nobel Women’s Peace Initiative, and Cynthia Chigwenya, former African Union Youth Ambassador for Peace for Southern Africa. The conversation that followed, provided a unique opportunity for the general public to learn about the peace-mediation strategies women and communities are using to prevent armed violence and child trafficking, as well as the challenges they face.
We were also fortunate to have our founder, General Romeo Dallaire attend the events of the day, which made it even more meaningful.
One of our long-term supporters, Ruth Anne Nicholson, reached out after the event with the following message: "It was a wonderful evening! Many thanks to you and your team for such a lovely reception and such an inspiring, powerful and emotional evening session. A special night, for sure. Continued success in all you do!"
