Never Again International – Canada (NAI-C) is a non-profit organization that engages youth around the world in activities that build sustainable peace.  

Never Again International – Canada is a youth-based organization that works with youth around the world to promote human rights, advocate for sustainable peace and protect our environment.

We are on a mission to prevent genocide, eliminate the proliferation of child soldiers and defend human rights through education by building the next generation of humanitarians.  

Never Again International – Canada youth are asking world leaders to take action to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers, promote peace and gender equality worldwide, advocate for genocide prevention and take immediate action to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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Our mission

Never Again International – Canada’s mission is to connect young people from around the world to generate ideas and action for peace.

Now is the time to take up the cause of the advancement of human rights for all and the moment is yours to grasp. – Roméo Dallaire 

Our vision

Never Again International – Canada’s vision is a peaceful world that celebrates our common humanity and is free of genocide and the exploitation of child soldiers.     

What is Never Again International – Canada?

Never Again International – Canada is an NGO that engages youth in creative and sustainable approaches to conflict resolution, genocide prevention and the eradication of the use of child soldiers. We aim to stimulate the creativity of youth and their communities to create ideas and actions for peace and take action to preserve the environment.

Never Again International – Canada exists to translate memories into concrete action. The aim is to build a new generation of fully engaged youth who will take the message of Never Again into their communities.

     

Never Again International – Canada members work in collaborative partnerships to create and carry out youth-led peacebuilding projects.

Never Again International – Canada youth are working to ensure that children are never again manipulated by adults to become agents of war and can instead become soldiers for peace.

NAI-C is enabling the next generation of peacemakers to receive an education by supporting former child soldiers and children affected by war in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to attend school.

   

Never Again International – Canada also supports the demobilization of child soldiers and provides them with employable skills so that they are not re-recruited by armed groups.

NAI-C presses both the government and the international community to look at the reparation package offered to former child soldiers. We provide them counselling and train former child soldiers and street children who have been separated from their relatives. NAI-C also provides computer training that allows former child soldiers to obtain employment.

Our aims and objectives

Never Again International – Canada is a human rights, peacebuilding organization that aims to:

• Alert the international community to both the causes and effects of genocide.
• Educate the public about the phenomenon of child soldiers and advocate for the elimination of the use of children as weapons of war.
• Facilitate a constructive exchange of ideas between young people – those who have lived through conflict and genocide and those who wish to learn from them – in order to cultivate a culture of peace.
• Affect change nationally and internationally in the human rights arena.
• Prioritize gender equality as a fundamental component of building peace through human rights advocacy to achieve justice for all.

Our story

Never Again International – Canada was originally created as a chapter of Never Again International. Our organization has now become autonomous and is building partnerships with youth from around the world. NAI-C is an international non-governmental organization that was created in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2007.

Never Again International – Canada was inspired by an extraordinary individual – the Honourable Retired General Roméo Dallaire. Dallaire is best known for his role as Force Commander of UNAMIR, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda between 1993 and 1994. Dallaire, with his small force, attempted to stop a growing genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Dallaire is an accomplished leader and humanitarian who recognizes the importance of educating leaders to shape our future on the world stage. Having served in Rwanda during the genocide, Roméo Dallaire has come face-to-face with the atrocities and human rights violations that he continues to spend his life opposing. He is now engaging youth to build the political will to become the leaders of tomorrow.

He is also an accomplished author of Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda and recently authored They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers.

General Dallaire’s work on genocide prevention and putting an end to the use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world inspired the creation of Never Again International – Canada. General Roméo Dallaire and Never Again International – Canada share a goal of eradicating the use of child soldiers and building a new generation of engaged youth around the world who are agents of peace.

Never Again International – Canada recognizes that Canada is a leading middle power in the world and as such should be articulating new development tools to develop a new conceptual basis for conflict resolution. Never Again International – Canada works on building regional capabilities and on developing Dallaire’s lexicon of tools to stamp out genocide and eliminate the use of child soldiers.

General Dallaire inspired Never Again International – Canada to assume an active role in integrating the capabilities of youth to advance iR2P (individual responsibility to protect).

It is our aim that the Never Again International – Canada will help to awaken the powers of the world to advance peace.

Creation of Never Again International – Canada

Never Again International – Canada was formed after the horrific acts that happened in Rwanda. Hundreds of thousands of people died and many children were left homeless without parents to take care of them. Many were in need of medical care, suffering from starvation and had no access to education.

After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, countless youth ended up living on the street because they had lost all their families and relatives. This continues to be a large problem in Rwanda.

The idea of Never Again International – Canada was first formed in 2006 at the Expanding the Dialogue: Preventing the Use of Children as Soldiers workshop in Winnipeg. The workshop was organized by Search for Common Ground and General Roméo Dallaire and brought together relevant stakeholders, former child soldiers and military commanders.

Melanie Tomsons, our executive director, participated in the workshop as a volunteer and was inspired to create an organization devoted to promoting peace and eradicating the use of child soldiers.

Never Again International – Canada expanded its original mandate to focus on the importance of ending the use of child soldiers in order to build sustainable world peace. NAI-C has now established itself as an independent youth-focused organization with partnerships around the world.

NAI-C took shape after one Canadian couple (Joseph Quesnel and Melanie Tomsons) visited Rwanda and worked hand-in-hand with the youth. Melanie and Joseph visited youth from different backgrounds and regions of Rwanda. The youth dialogued with the Canadian visitors about their activities, particularly their efforts in peace building, unity and reconciliation, conflict transformation and genocide prevention.

While in Rwanda, Melanie and Joseph visited the Kicukiro Academy Troupe Cooperative (KTC) that was formed by three high school students in October 2005.

The Kicukiro Academy Troupe Cooperative (KATC) is a community-based group that aims to improve the lives of youth and encourage them to use their talents to develop youth-led innovative income generating projects. The Kicukiro Academy Troupe is comprised of students who completed secondary school at Kigali International Academy (KIA) and non-schooling street children in the Kicukiro district of Rwanda.

Youth come together to promote their talents. Through their creative use of dance, music and handicrafts, they use their unique talents to exemplify their culture, norms, and values and act as agents of peace in their communities. The youth also perform community work by building homes for homeless youth and survivors of the genocide.

The youth troupe has successfully advocated at the district level for youth housing for vulnerable widows of the genocide and those with HIV/AIDS. Youth also conducted annual community work on genocide memorial sites alongside IBUKA – a local NGO – where they cut bushes, cleaned graves and planted flowers to prepare the Nyanza memorial sites.

Joseph and Melanie were inspired by the youth in Rwanda. They worked alongside them to develop the idea of forming an NGO that would advocate and support youth initiatives by building their capacity.

After spending months with the youth in Rwanda, Melanie and Joseph went back to Canada. Melanie began to actualize her dream by establishing Never Again International – Canada. Never Again International – Canada connected with youth clubs throughout Rwanda and advocated for youth initiatives.

Never Again International – Canada began forming youth clubs in secondary schools, universities and non-schooling youth associations. These clubs helped unite youth to generate creative ways of building peace and become agents of change in their communities.

Never Again International – Canada was created to harness the power and potential of youth around the world to prevent genocide and ensure that countries will never again use child soldiers. The organization has now expanded to engage in youth-led peacebuilding efforts around the world.

You can impact global change by engaging with our youth-led peace building projects today

A Dynamic Force of Peacebuilders

Like the peacebuilding process, Never Again International – Canada’s mandate is continuing to develop. NAI-C is dynamic and the youth involved continue to charge the organization with new energy and new ideas to shape how they think youth can best contribute to creating a more peaceful world. Below is a diagram illustrating how NAI-C is continuing to evolve.

Who we are

Never Again International – Canada is building a new generation of peace soldiers. We are an international group of youth from different backgrounds who use our creativity to advance peace and advocate for a better world.

NAI-C builds on the capabilities of youth in a wide variety of disciplines. We welcome involvement from peace advocates in all fields from around the world. NAI-C youth are both non-schooling and schooled. Our peace soldiers are also university students and young graduates who are aspiring historians, artists, poets, musicians, as well as photographers, journalists, scientists and engineers.

How we work

Never Again International – Canada connects youth around the world to share in creative ideas to build a more peaceful world. We realize the importance of learning from our past to create a more peaceful future.

NAI-C youth educate their fellow youth about the root causes of conflicts and build creative strategies to fight against child abuse and the use of child soldiers. NAI-C mobilizes youth around the world to become active agents of peace.

Our youth raise awareness about current conflicts and what has precipitated them. Youth are equipped with the tools to become peacebuilders.

NAI-C involves people of all ages and backgrounds. We welcome everyone who has a desire to make a difference but does not necessarily feel empowered to contribute to peace. One does not need to know everything about a particular conflict to become involved. In becoming involved, one becomes educated and educates others. NAI-C empowers everyone who has a desire to affect change in his or her community and around the world.
    

Never Again International – Canada realizes the importance of developing the capabilities of the NGO. Youth from NAI-C use creative development to awaken the powers of the world to build peace.

NAI-C is working with youth who have survived genocides, former child soldiers who know first-hand the horrors of conflict and a dynamic force of youth around the world who are passionate peace advocates.

We welcome anyone who is ready to promote peace. Our youth actively engage in stopping the use of child soldiers and alert the international community to any signs of genocides or war crimes that may happen around the world.

Please contact us to get involved.   

              

Peace does not have to be an elusive goal. Youth have the capacity to educate their peers about stopping the use of child soldiers and how they can in turn be a voice for global peace. NAI-C shows youth how they can make a difference.  

Empowering peacemakers

Our mission is to empower a new generation of passionate peacemakers. Anyone who wants to contribute can translate their passion into particular areas and make a difference in specific projects. NAI-C enables youth to make a concrete impact in building a more peaceful world. For example, if you are interested in helping stop the use of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic the Congo, you can become involved in that particular project area.

Never Again International – Canada encourages the involvement of people of all ages. Peacemakers of all ages are invited to spearhead projects for peace.

Everyone can help fundraise to make these peace initiatives a reality and donate to actualize specific projects to engage youth in becoming active agents of peace. You may be older and not consider yourself a youth, but your contribution is very welcome.

Engaging youth for peace

Youth who engage with Never Again International – Canada realize that they have a responsibility to protect humanity. Our involvement in the global community means that we have a responsibility to be involved in more than just regional issues. Never Again International – Canada seeks to bring young people together in the promotion of global peace.

Youth raise their voices to advocate for genocide prevention and stop the use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world. Never Again International – Canada youth are working to ensure that children are never again manipulated by adults to become agents of war and can instead become soldiers for peace.

We are nurturing a new generation of youth to make never again a reality by eradicating the use of child soldiers around the world.

“This new century must become the Century of Humanity, when we as human beings rise above race, creed, colour, religion and national self-interest and put the good of humanity above the good of our own tribe. For the sake of the children and of our future.” – Roméo Dallaire