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ADDRESSING PROTECTION ISSUES

cekeeping and the Prevention of eping, with a focus on tackling have children be recruited and
the Recruitment and use of Child the recruitment and use of child used as soldiers, it is also irrespon-
Soldiers was co-authored by the soldiers. The key principles of sible to send troops into such con-
Government of Canada and the the document were informed by texts without the proper training,
Dallaire Initiative in November the best practices by the Dallai- tools, tactics, and techniques that
2017 at the UN Peacekeeping De- re Initiative on the critical gaps give clear operational guidance
fence Ministerial held in Vancou- that existed in the current UN and on how best to protect the child
ver, Canada. The aim of the Van- national frameworks to address as well as the peacekeeper them-
couver Principles is to prioritize the prevention of the recruitment selves. Ad hoc responses are no
and further operationalize child and use of child soldiers globally. longer “good enough”. Despite
protection within UN peaceke- While it is morally repugnant to important developments in inter-
national law, advocacy campai-
gns, or development money being
spent on release, reintegration,
and rehabilitation efforts, today
we see that the use of children is
present in every major conflict that
currently exists. The time has come
to prioritize the protection of chil-
dren by focusing on how to ad-
dress the 6 grave violations against
children in armed conflict, not by
simply reacting, but by preventing
these atrocities in the first place.
Through more effective preparation
for peacekeepers, as well as clari-
ty with doctrine, tactics, that speak
to the realities peacekeepers face

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