By Laura Conrad, News Editor
On Oct. 26, Romeo Dallaire declared war at Dalhousie University.
The retired lieutenant general and Liberal Senator was here to launch Zero Force, a movement that asks people to “enlist” to end the use of children as soldiers in conflicts around the world.
Dallaire, who witnessed the failure of humanity during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, talked to The Gazette about why it was important for the movement to begin at Dal.
“We have been working with other universities to advance the research, but Dalhousie’s the one that demonstrated the most innovative and concerted interest in the project,” he says. “It wasn’t just the department or the professors. This place vibrated, and so that’s why we came here. We could have gone to other places, but this place was the most responsive.”
According to Dallaire, there are currently an estimated 250,000 child soldiers, many younger than 10. Through the Child Soldier’s Initiative and his new Zero Force campaign, Dallaire hopes to recruit 2.5 million activists in support of ending the use of child soldiers. He hopes that, aside from signing up to support the campaign, young people will become actively involved in the cause.
“The aim is to get (students and youth) to become activists. We provide the information, but we expect them to engage themselves not only locally, but overseas,” Dallaire says. “A big part of this is for the youth to go into the field, and feel and see and smell what’s happening to their peers in these countries. Then, to bring that back and continue their activism.
“It’s meant to be very interactive. It’s not about just signing up to a little event. We expect you to be engaged, we expect you to be advocates, we expect you to want to go out there and get your boots dirty.”
Along with beginning the new campaign, Dallaire also launched his new book at Dal, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. Dallaire says the book intends to serve as an educational tool in support of the global movement.
“The book will be there as a reference, along with the information on the website,” he says. “Essentially, the first step is to inform … if you join our force, we will provide you with the information and we will hopefully energize you. Become engaged, as young activists, to stop these conflicts that are based on using your peers as instruments of war.”
In comparison with his first book, Shake Hands with the Devil, Dallaire says he feels more optimistic about his new book.
“(I now have) a target that I feel is going to prevent conflict, so I feel optimistic,” he says. “Because of the flexibility of youth, I really feel we will be able to reduce the number of conflicts in the world.”
The Ondaatje auditorium was packed with attentive listeners on the night of the book launch. Nova Scotia’s Lieutenant
Governor Mayann E. Francis welcomed the audience, followed by former child soldier Ishmael Beah.
“What affected me is still affecting hundreds of thousands of children around the world,” Beah told the audience. “We must put in laws that apply to everyone equally.”
Equality was also a point Dallaire touched on when he spoke to the audience.
“There isn’t one of us that counts more in the face of humanity than anybody else,” he says. “We are talking about children who are just as children as our own.”
Dallaire’s book is now available at book stores everywhere.
“The book is meant to be a troubling reference,” he say. “We are among the 11 most powerful nations in the world. We can’t sit back anymore.”
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