Celebrating International Children's Day

Public Lecture

Listening to the World's Children

Respecting their Right to be Heard

Lt. General the Honourable Romeo Dallaire

Bell Theatre - Minto Centre

Carleton University

5:30 p.m.

June 1, 2007

Lieutenant General the Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, O.C., C.M.M., G.O.C, M.S.C., C.D., (Retired), Senator

LGen. the Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, (Ret’d), Senator, has had a distinguished career in the Canadian military, achieving the rank of Lieutenant General and becoming Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources) in the Department of National Defence in 1998. In 1994, General Dallaire commanded the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). His book on his experiences in Rwanda, entitled Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, was awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2004. It has garnered numerous international literary awards, and will be the basis of a full-length feature film scheduled to be released in 2007.

Since his retirement from the military, Senator Dallaire has worked to bring an understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder to the general public. He has also been a visiting lecturer at several Canadian and American universities, and has written several articles and chapters in publications on conflict resolution, humanitarian assistance and human rights. As a Fellow of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, he pursued research on conflict resolution and the use of child soldiers.

Senator Dallaire has received numerous honours and awards, including Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002, Grand Officer of the National Order of Québec in 2005, and the Aegis Award for Genocide Prevention from the Aegis Trust (United Kingdom). He has also been named a Fellow of the Ryerson Polytechnic University and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and has received honorary doctorates from a large number of Canadian and American universities. Canada’s Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, presented him with the United Nations Association of Canada’s Pearson Peace Medal in 2005.
LGen. Dallaire (Ret’d) was appointed to the Senate effective March 24, 2005 and sits in the Senate as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.
As a champion of human rights, his activities included:

public speaking on issues relating to human rights and genocide prevention;
visiting Darfur as a member of Prime Minister Martin’s Special Advisory Team on Darfur;
advocacy for the Canadian Forces mission to Afghanistan;
membership in the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention;
leadership in a project to develop a conceptual base for the elimination of the use of child soldiers; and
leadership in activities aimed at the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Senator Dallaire is currently researching and writing a book on the subject of child soldiers.