Preface

Abstract

In the wake of unspeakable horrors that have been committed against children in Syria with chemical weapons, the growing refugee crisis globally, and the reality that we are facing cataclysmic food shortages that lead to even more instability – it is often difficult to know where to begin to make the greatest impact for change. However, what is remarkably clear is that children continue to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous adults – from those who create and conduct war, and those who fail to effectively harness efforts to address war.

The Dallaire Initiative‘s approach calls for a need to make children a priority on the overall peace and security agenda – a Children‘s Rights Upfront call to action. As a contribution to this effort, the current articles in this volume of Allons-y have advocated for innovative solutions and new frames of reference for some of the world‘s most pressing concerns from youth themselves: from understanding how cyber warfare can target children and youth and the lack of dialogue to address this lacunae in the law, to the impacts of Islamophobia that create conditions for recruitment, to the resulting effects of war on refugee children.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Principles on Children in Armed Conflict. The Principles have helped to create a framework to guide the need to protect children in armed conflict. But at the 10th Anniversary conference in Paris in February 2017, the need to focus on preventing violations against children was deemed as critical for meaningful impact. If we are not prepared to create policy responses through a preventative lens then we will continually be reacting to conflicts and their implications for generations to come. It is time we see the world through the lens of children, for children and for the future of humanity.