The Dallaire Institute

Lieutenant-General, The Honourable Roméo Antonius Dallaire, OC, CMM, GOQ, MSC, CD (Retired) was the former Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda from 1993 to 1994. Lt. General (retired) Dallaire confronted the unthinkable during the genocide in Rwanda: children recruited and used to commit atrocities. Due to this experience, General Dallaire suffered moral and operational stress injuries which ultimately led to his life-long commitment to destigmatize post-traumatic stress disorders among veterans and end the recruitment and use of children worldwide. The Dallaire Institute was created with the unique premise that preventing violence against children requires a dual lens approach. We are focused on prioritizing the protection of children, as well as understanding the significant operational impacts upon security sector actors. Our research on moral injury as result of these encounters is pivotal to improving operational effectiveness. 

General Dallaire founded the Child Soldiers Initiative in 2007 and Dalhousie University, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, provided a home to the initiative in 2010. Since those early days, the organization has evolved extensively from a training development initiative to one that has applied research and learning that guides operational concepts and, at its core, contributes to a key gap in the peace and security architecture. In 2020, the Initiative became the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace, and Security, an international repository of expertise, research and advocacy to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed violence. 

Through innovative approaches to knowledge creation and dissemination, we bridge security and humanitarian perspectives and responses to create a holistic approach to the issues of children affected by armed violence. Drawing on our vast expertise and the breadth of perspectives of those with lived experience, we provide policy guidance, work to increase awareness and political will, build operational effectiveness in security institutions and engage communities.

The Dallaire Institute was created with the unique premise that preventing violence against children requires a dual lens approach. We are focused on prioritizing the protection of children, as well as understanding the significant operational impacts upon security sector actors.

Through innovative approaches to knowledge creation and dissemination, we bridge security and humanitarian perspectives and responses to create a holistic approach to the issues of children affected by armed violence. Drawing on our vast expertise and the breadth of perspectives of those with lived experience, we provide policy guidance, work to increase awareness and political will, build operational effectiveness in security institutions and engage communities. Our approach focuses on three strategic goals.

Accelerating Action on the Vancouver Principles

The Vancouver Principles aim to prevent the recruitment and use of children as soldiers as critical to achieving lasting peace and security. These principles operationalize child protection within UN peacekeeping by taking a more proactive and preventative stance on child recruitment in the context of peacekeeping operations. By endorsing and implementing the Vancouver Principles, Member States ensure that their peacekeepers are prepared to 

As co-developers and custodians of The Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers, we advise governments and multilateral partners on integrating the Principles into security sector governance. Through academic and practitioner training, and community engagement, the Dallaire Institute’s interdisciplinary and applied research advances innovative strategies for preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts and violence. The Dallaire Institute is supported through private, public, and international contributions.

Strengthening and building the capacity of the security sector to prevent the recruitment and use of children

The recruitment and use of children in violence is a tactical and strategic element of current conflicts that must be addressed through proactive, prevention-oriented training. Peacekeepers are often the first point of contact for children recruited and used in violence, therefore, any meaningful efforts to prevent violations against children must include a focus on security sector preparedness. The Dallaire Institute is the only organization in the world that adopts a dual lens approach to preventing the recruitment and use of children. Our unique dual lens approach to prevention focuses on prioritizing the protection of children from factors that make them susceptible to recruitment, as well as understanding the significant distressing psychological impacts and operational challenges faced by security sector actors who come face to face with children who have been recruited. 

Integrating community perspectives to prevent the recruitment and use of children

The recruitment and use of children in armed violence has devastating effects for children and their communities. The Dallaire Institute believes that strategies to prevent children’s recruitment and use must be community-based and context-specific. Collaboration between communities and peacekeepers is key to developing effective prevention strategies and to increasing the accountability and responsiveness of security actors to the community. By prioritizing the needs of children and championing their roles as key agents of change and advocates of peace, we can further strengthen a global peace and security agenda. The Dallaire Institute’s research on community perspectives is central to how we understand and analyze how community engagement helps shape prevention strategies. We work with local partners to create platforms that build trust between communities and the security sector actors charged with their protection.

Our staff includes senior researchers, military experts and trainers, adult learning specialists, and child protection and gender experts. Our critical research helps leaders around the world address policy gaps and understand the current and evolving risk factors that precede recruitment and the impacts of the use of children in violence. This research informs the development and delivery of scenario-based, prevention-oriented training to prepare military, police, and civilian personnel to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed violence.