Report of the Dialogue on Mobilizing the Will to Intervene
Vancouver, BC
November 27, 2009
The Simons Foundation in partnership with the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University, Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue and Canada’s World convened a Dialogue with representatives of the media, business leaders, government representatives, academics and relevant civil society organizations on generating the Will to Intervene to Prevent Mass Atrocities.
Professor Frank Chalk, Director of MIGS and Co-Director of MIGS’s Will to Intervene Project (W2I) led the discussion on the most effective ways to mobilize local support and generate the Will to Intervene to prevent mass atrocities. The Dialogue was chaired by Dr. Mark Winston, Academic Director of SFU’s Centre for Dialogue, and moderated by Ms. Shauna Sylvester, Director of Canada’s World.
The Dialogue was one of three events held during the two-day Vancouver Launch of the W2I Project report, Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities. The fundamental goal of the report is to identify strategic and practical steps to raise the capacity of government officials, legislators, civil servants, non-governmental organizations, advocacy groups, journalists, and media owners and managers to build the political will to prevent mass atrocities.
A session for academics and students focusing on the findings and policy proposals of the report was held on Thursday, November 26th at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. A Public Lecture by Professor Frank Chalk highlighting MIGS case studies of Canadian and US policies towards the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 1999 events in Kosovo was held that evening.