The recently signed host agreement between the Government of Rwanda and the Dallaire Institute means that all the latter’s continental programmes will be facilitated through the established African Centre of Excellence in Kigali. The development was communicated through a statement released by the office of the Prime Minister as part of resolutions from the cabinet meeting of December 14. Over the past years, the institute partnered with the government to establish an African Centre of Excellence in Kigali, with a focus on child protection and promoting the rights of children through the security sector agenda. The New Times reached out to Francesca Mujawase, Acting Director of the African Centre of Excellence for Children, Peace, and Security in Rwanda, who explained that Rwanda stands out among other countries in embracing the children, peace and security agenda and being among the key contributing peacekeeping countries was the rationale based on for its selection. “This agreement gives a permanent base in Rwanda where the centre exists to strengthen African capacity through training and education to build the capacity of security forces in the region,” she said. He added that the hub will be a convener for a regional network of security sector actors, policymakers and academia to advance the peace and security agenda that puts children at its very core, leading a community of knowledge that is needed during peacetime and conflicts. “The Centre of Excellence on the continent level will be hosting the Vancouver principles agenda and accelerate the action for African countries to endorse and implement the principles, as championed by Rwanda,” said Mujawase. So far 105 countries globally have endorsed the set of political commitments focused on child protection in peacekeeping, including all stages of a conflict cycle. They comprise 17 principles that focus on preventing the recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed forces and armed groups. ‘The level of child weaponising in some countries is alarming’ Mujawase said that there has been progress over the past years to mitigate the use of children in armed conflicts and reports show that the number of child soldiers has been reduced. However, “knowing the security situation on the African continent right now, looking at the North-East Sahel, the ongoing conflicts in Ethiopia and even post-conflict countries such as South Sudan and the Central African Republic, the use of children is still paramount,” she said. She highlighted that the issue is alarming and if children are not prioritized in the security agenda, the continent will face a huge challenge because “when children are used as weapons of war, it creates an inter-generational war.” We are working closely with troops on the ground to monitor the situation, she added, to advise the stakeholders on how we can mitigate or prevent the situation.
