No Images? Click here MCC to Canadian government: no military solution in IraqIn February of 2016, the Government of Canada announced its re-tooled mission to address the Syria and Iraq crises. In addition to investing in humanitarian, long-term development and diplomatic efforts, Canada committed to tripling its contingent of Canadian soldiers engaged in training, advising, assisting, and arming Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. Last month, MCC Canada wrote a letter to Minister Freeland, voicing our continued concern that Canada’s anti-ISIS military efforts “are contributing to the emergence of local and regional armed organizations that weaken the state structures necessary for lasting peace.” Given our more than six decades of experience in the Middle East, MCC firmly believes that there is no effective military solution for dealing with the region’s complex security issues. And, as the letter states, MCC’s local partners are concerned that military training and international weapons transfers to Iraq are “fueling sectarian divisions at the political level and amongst minority groups; contributing to human rights and laws-of-war violations; and further destabilizing the country.” Read the letter and learn more about what MCC is doing in the region. Students engage issues of peace, gender and conflictIn February the Ottawa office hosted 30 students from across Canada for our annual seminar. The seminar explored the different ways war and conflict impact the genders, and highlighted the importance of ensuring balanced gender participation in peacebuilding processes. Our speakers included MP Hélène Laverdière and Senator Mobina Jaffer, as well as civil servants, and civil society members from various NGOs. Other highlights included Question Period in the House of Commons and a role play, in which students sought to understand the gendered complexities involved in building peace. Read about how the seminar went off topic. The world needs people with hearts, minds and skills to build peace. The Canadian School of Peacebuilding of Canadian Mennonite University is a place to become such a person. This year between June 12 and 23, it will offer courses on: journalism and peace, trauma and conflict transformation, the refugee challenge, Indigenous legal traditions, peace resources in Islam and Christianity, and feminist theology and gender violence. Learn more. MCC is a member of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives. KAIROS continues to provide leadership in charting the journey of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. A new resource is an online info-hub related to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The intent of this living document is that it will help allies come together to learn about the issues and the Inquiry, and to reach out in solidarity and support to victims and their families. Staff updateIn February 2017 Director Jenn Wiebe and Policy Analyst Bekah Sears participated in a three-part course, "Understanding the Israel/Palestinian Conflict," taught by Peter Larson through the University of Ottawa's Centre for Continuing Education. Peter is the founder and chair of Canada Talks Israel Palestine, an NGO that seeks to promote dialogue and informed discussion on the Palestine and Israel context. |