On the eve of Human Rights Day, join us at the University of Toronto's MacMillan Theatre for an evening of readings, conversation, a call to action and the official launch of Lt-Gen Roméo Dallaire's ‘Zero Force', a global movement to end the use of child soldiers.

Hosted by CBC's Anna Maria Tremonti, the event will feature a presentation by Lt-Gen Roméo Dallaire and a reading from his new book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children, followed by General Dallaire ‘in conversation’ with Indigo Book's Heather Reisman.

This celebration of Human Rights Day will also include an introduction from world-renowned advocate Stephen Lewis, as well as an evening of storytelling, music and interactive discussion highlighted by a performance by former Sudanese child soldier and hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal.

What: Human Rights Day with Lt-Gen Roméo Dallaire

Where: MacMillan Theatre, University of Toronto
(80 Queen's Park — view map here )

Date: Thursday, December 9, 2010

Time: 7:30pm

Tickets: $25  ($20 for children and students with valid ID)


Click Here to download the event poster


 Note: All net proceeds of this event will go to support Zero Force, a campaign of the Child Soldiers Initiative. For more information please contact: Jo Cutajar, Campaign Coordinator, Zero Force at [email protected] or by phone at 416.601.2225.

Speaker Bios

Lt. General Romeo Dallaire
LGen The Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, (Ret'd), Senator, has had a 35 year distinguished career in the Canadian military, achieving the rank of Lieutenant-General and becoming Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources) in the Department of National Defence in 1998. In 1994, General Dallaire commanded the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). His Governor General's Literary Award-winning book, Shake Hands With the Devil, exposes the failures of the international community to stop one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. As a champion of human rights, his personal work has included genocide prevention, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the Child Soldiers Initiative, a powerful account of his commitment to eradicating the use of child soldiers in his new book, "They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children" and the launch of this new movement, Zero Force.

Stephen Lewis
Stephen Lewis is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto.  He is the board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World in the United States.

Mr. Lewis serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.   Among several senior UN roles that spanned over two decades, Mr. Lewis was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Lewis holds 32 honorary degrees from Canadian universities and in June 2010 he received an honorary degree from Dartmouth College in the United States.  He is a Companion of the Order of Canada and in 2007, the Kingdom of Lesotho invested Mr. Lewis as Knight Commander of the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe, the country's highest honour.

Emmanuel Jal
For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he's become an international hip-hop star and an activist for kids in war zones. Through unbelievable struggles, Emmanuel managed to survive and emerge as a world-famous recording artist with a hit record under his belt. Called an artist "with the potential of a young Bob Marley" by Peter Gabriel, he has performed at Live 8 and Nelson Mandela's 90th b-day concert. His music can be heard in major motion pictures, TV, and he's been featured in major outlets like TIME, USA Today, NPR, CNN, MTV, & the BBC. Emmanuel is also a spokesperson for Amnesty International and Oxfam, and created the charitable foundation, Gua Africa. War Child, his biography, was released in early 2009 along with a documentary film.

Heather Reisman
Heather Reisman is the founder and CEO of Canada's largest book retailer, Indigo Books & Music Inc. Born in Montreal and educated at McGill University, Heather spent the next 16 years of her career as Managing Director of Paradigm Consulting, the strategy and change management firm she co-founded in 1979. After leaving Paradigm to become President of> Cott Corporation, Heather went on to launch Indigo Books & Music Inc, the booklovers' cultural department store. For Heather, bringing Indigo to life was the culmination and integration of a life long passion for books and music, and an entire career focused on understanding and building advanced organizations. Heather is a former Governor of McGill University and of the Toronto Stock Exchange. In addition to serving on numerous North American boards, she has received several awards including Waterloo Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Anna Maria Tremonti
Born and raised in Windsor Ontario, Anna Maria Tremonti hosts CBC Radio’s The Current which first burst onto the airwaves in November of 2000, bringing Tremonti’s mix of hard-edged journalism and hard-won empathy to listeners across the country. A former foreign correspondent and war correspondent who spent close to a decade posted in Berlin, London, Jerusalem and Washington, Anna Maria's ongoing coverage of major international stories includes the breakup of the former Soviet Union, the war in Bosnia, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, the politics of the Arab world, Europe and the United States. In addition to winning two Gemini awards, and a life Achievement Award from Women in film and Television Toronto, Anna Maria was a CBC correspondent in Europe, and was for a number of years the chief CBC correspondent in the Middle East.