UVic Joins Romeo Dallaire to Eliminate Child Soldier Use

Three faculty members from the University of Victoria’s School of Child and Youth Care leave for Africa next week to join Canadian humanitarian Romeo Dallaire’s mission to eradicate the use of child soldiers. From July 16 to 20, Drs. Sibylle Artz and Marie Hoskins together with Dr. Philip Lancaster, adjunct professor in the school and military assistant to Dallaire during the Rwanda genocide, will join 40 other multidisciplinary professionals at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana. They will participate in simulation exercises intended to develop and test innovative solutions to stopping the use of child soldiers in many war-torn countries in Africa.
“The school’s practical experiences with youth violence, gangs and the aftermath of war makes this initiative a natural fit,” says Artz. It’s estimated as many as 300,000 children in more than 30 countries serve as soldiers, human mine detectors, porters, spies and messengers in suicide missions. “Children are still being recruited to play military roles in adult conflicts yet international attempts to keep children safe from this sort of abuse are largely ineffective,” says Lancaster. His work with Dallaire and over 10 years of field research in the area of child soldiers inspired him to work towards solutions to this grave situation for many children around the world. Lancaster believes that effective coordination of services and organizations generate a “unity of purpose” that may help to end this harmful practice.
A Canadian Senator and retired Lieutenant General, Dallaire, received an honorary degree from UVic in June 2005.

Faculty members are available to the media on Monday, July 9, 2007.

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