Today@Dal

For more than a decade, Dr. Shelly Whitman has relentlessly worked to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and transform cycles of violence. On January 10th, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of her humanitarian efforts.

Created to mark the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty, the late Queen Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne, the medal is given to ‘those who have devoted themselves to the service of others.’ Dr. Whitman’s dedication is evident in her impactful work as executive director of the Dalhousie-based Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security. Under her leadership, the institute has delivered training to more than 15,000 security forces from over 100 countries to help them prevent the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. It has become an invaluable partner and source of expertise for the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the African Union. And it has contributed to more than 50 policy resources on children and armed conflict worldwide.

“It is an honour to receive this medal, not just because it is validation for the work that we are doing to protect children, but also motivation for us to keep going,” Dr. Whitman says. “More important, the medal helps raise awareness of and support for our work, which is vital to make change happen.” 

Creating a safer world for children

Dr. Whitman was named executive director of The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative in January 2010, which has since evolved into the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security. She has played a key role in its growth and evolution into the institute, which included its name change. Today, the institute’s international team is made up of approximately 30 staff based in Canada, Rwanda, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Uruguay. It has also created two regional centres of excellence—Africa (Kigali, Rwanda) and Latin America (Montevideo, Uruguay)—and collaborates closely with the Canadian Armed Forces Centre of Excellence in Ottawa. Through these centres, the institute is helping to build capacity, develop programming and conduct research that not only delivers on its mission, but also expands it.

“The majority of Latin America would not be considered to be conflict zones, but there are instances of criminality in which children are being drawn into armed violence,” Dr. Whitman says. “We drew on lessons learned from the African centre of excellence for this launch and we have plans for a similar undertaking in the Middle East.”

Dalhousie provides vital support

Through collaborations with, and the support of,  Dalhousie, the Institute has been able to continue to grow. For example, the establishment of the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in International Peace, Security and Children, which is held by Dr. Kate Swanson from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, is critical to increasing impact and knowledge for the newly created Latin American Centre of Excellence. The Institute advocated for and participated in the selection of the CRC candidates.

“It means a lot that Dalhousie has given us a home and support to do what we do,” Dr. Whitman says. “I think there are opportunities to grow the magnitude of collaboration across the university. The Platinum Jubilee Medal will help pave the way for that while providing validation for Dalhousie’s many research initiatives.”

Inspired by the medal, Dr. Whitman continues to deliver on the institute’s goals. The Acceleration of Implementation of the Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers, which the institute co-authored with the Government of Canada in 2017, now has endorsements from 105 nations worldwide. The institute has also developed a predictive model, Early Warning to Early Action, that will enable identification of high-risk child recruitment zones. And research is underway to address the moral injury that many soldiers and police officers experience through interactions with children in armed conflict. 

“Ideally, we would like to achieve a world where people cannot believe that children were ever recruited and used to conduct armed violence and war, but we know that will be difficult,” she says. “For now, we will continue to minimize the opportunities and instances for that to happen.”

For more information about the institute, visit https://www.dallaireinstitute.org/