“Peux ce que veux. Allons-y” – “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Let’s go.” With these words, General Roméo Dallaire called on the international community to intervene before the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.
The international community ignored this call to action in 1994, with lethal results for nearly a million Rwandans. General Dallaire’s experiences in Rwanda led to his found in 2010 of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative at Dalhousie, and now 22 years later this call to action forms the inspiration for Allons-y.
Allons-y is a peer-reviewed journal for academic work by graduate and undergraduate students and young practitioners, complemented by expert commentary. It provides an interdisciplinary platform for young people to contribute to preventing the use of children in armed conflict.
“We’re very excited about the potential this new publication has,” says Shelly Whitman, the executive director of the Dallaire Initiative. “It provides a unique platform for young people to have their voices and experiences heard on these important issues which have youth at their core. This allows them to make a meaningful impact on building a better world for themselves and future generations.”
A platform for young academics
What makes Allons-y unique is its combination of pieces by young academics with commentary on their pieces by leading experts and practitioners in the field. This combination addresses the all-too-frequent gaps between academic research and real-world practice by immediately contextualizing and applying the analysis presented in the articles, taking theory and translating it into action.
The first issue of Allons-y was published at the end of August on the Dallaire Initiative website and in print, and features two articles: one by Dalhousie PhD student Michelle Legassicke on South Sudan, and one by Simon Frasier University masters graduate Jacqueline Salomé on children in maritime piracy.
The commentary in this first issue was provided by Nicolas Coghlan, Canada’s former ambassador to South Sudan, on Michelle Legassicke’s article, and by Brigadier General (ret’d) Kenneth Watkin, QC, a former Canadian Forces Judge Advocate General, on Jacqueline Salomé’s.
“This first issue demonstrates the caliber of insight and analysis that young academics can contribute in this area,” said General Dallaire. “They are not yet jaded about the world and are capable of providing fresh and challenging perspectives on what is happening.”
Looking ahead
The next issue of Allons-y will be released in February 2017, focusing on the commonalities between different forms of extreme violence affecting children and youth, due to conflict, gangs, and extremism and how these similarities can lead to new interventions.
“Allons-y now forms a core part of our research portfolio,” said General Dallaire. “It’s a call to action for young people to get involved with our work and tackle some of the most challenging problems facing us today. We want to get the message out there that you are the future and you can make a difference.”
The Dallaire Initiative is currently accepting submission of art work about children in armed conflict. Students are able to submit papers they have written for class to Allons-y, and are encouraged to write on topics of interest to them so they can submit when the next call for papers is issued. You can learn more at childsoldiers.org/allons-y/
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