Vancouver Launch of the W2I Project Report, November 2009
November 26–27, 2009
Convened by The Simons Foundation, Simon Fraser University (SFU) Centre for Dialogue, and the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University.
A Dialogue on generating the Will to Intervene (W2I) to Prevent Mass Atrocities was convened by The Simons Foundation, MIGS, SFU Centre for Dialogue and Canada’s World on November 27, 2009. Participants included representatives of the media, business leaders, government representatives, academics and relevant civil society organizations.
Professor Frank Chalk, Director of MIGS and Co-Director of MIGS’s W2I Project, 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.
In addition to the Dialogue on the W2I, Prof. Chalk delivered an academic seminar and a public lecture on the findings and policy proposals of the Will to Intervene (W2I) Project Report at SFU in Vancouver.
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The Will to Intervene (W2I) Project is a research initiative created by LGen. The Hon. Roméo Dallaire (Ret’d), Senator, and Prof. Frank Chalk, Director of MIGS, to identify strategic and practical steps to raise the capacity of government officials, legislators, civil servants, non-governmental organizations, advocacy groups, journalists and the media to build the Will to Intervene to Prevent Mass Atrocities.
The key to mobilizing international support to prevent mass atrocities is to garner domestic support. This was a central argument of The Responsibility to Protect (R2P), the 2001 report prepared by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. The W2I Project is designed to operationalize R2P principles in Canada and the U.S. Strong prodding from civil society organizations and the news media is essential when governments do not implement the responsibility to protect on their own.
W2I Project Report: Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities
See details on the Will to Intervene (W2I) Project here.