Training helps with emotional conflict
Canadian military will be first in the world to issue guidelines on dealing with child soldiers
OTTAWA — The Canadian military is poised to become the first in the world to issue guidelines for dealing with child soldiers, which could be put to the test immediately in Africa.
The guidelines are intended to ensure Canadian troops are properly trained — and emotionally prepared — for situations involving child soldiers, no matter the mission or location.
Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance ordered the rules drafted last March after a discussion with retired senator Romeo Dallaire, who has championed the fight against using children in conflict.
Cmdr. Rory McLay, who is overseeing the initiative, said the guidelines should be approved in the coming days, at which point they will be sent to commanders across the Canadian Armed Forces. Such direction is timely, given the Liberal government is expected to green-light the deployment of hundreds of Canadian soldiers to Mali in the coming weeks.
The UN as well as human rights groups say several of the armed groups currently operating in Mali have intentionally recruited and are using child soldiers in a number of capacities.
Meanwhile, the French military found itself under fire last month for killing a 10-year-old boy suspected of acting as a lookout for one of those groups.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which Canadian troops are helping to fight in Iraq, have also made extensive use of child soldiers.
McLay said Canadian troops have encountered child soldiers in the past, including in Afghanistan, and that there are a variety of existing rules and policies on how to deal with them. But the guidelines, or doctrine, under development will be the first to gather everything into one place so military personnel know what is expected.
It will also serve to ensure commanders take the issue into account when preparing their troops for missions where they might meet child soldiers, as well as after a mission ends.
“Training is one of the best ways to mentally prepare (troops) to deal with the sights and sounds that they’re going to encounter,” McLay said.
“So, if you can specifically guide the training to deal with a specific issue, you are better preparing your team to react appropriately and to be able to deal with their own actions during and down the road.”
Shelly Whitman, executive director of the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative at Dalhousie University, said while the British are developing similar guidelines, they aren’t as far along as the Canadian military.