MIGS will partner with the Stanley Foundation and the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), to co-convene a global group of parliamentarians in The Hague, Netherlands, in April 2017. The group will focus on what parliamentarians can do in building national mechanisms for mass atrocity prevention.
On December 12, Ivan Šimonović, the UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect, visited MIGS.
On December 9, officials from the Canadian Human Rights Museum and from Global Affairs Canada’s human rights office visited MIGS to discuss future cooperation.
Advocacy
On 1 December MIGS, alongside 222 civil society organizations, co-signed the “Uniting for Peace in Syria: Global Civil Society Appeal to UN Member States”. The appeal calls for UN member states to request an Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly to demand an end to all unlawful attacks in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria, and immediate and unhindered humanitarian access so that life-saving aid can reach all those in need.
Past Events
On December 8, in partnership with the British Consulate-General and Global Affairs Canada, MIGS welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize Nominated The White Helmets (Officially called The Syrian Civil Defense) to Montreal, and hosted a panel discussion with the directors of the NGO and their main implementation partner Mayday Rescue as well as a special screening of the documentary ‘The White Helmets’.
On December 7, MIGS submitted its CONTRA project to the Peer to Peer “Challenge extremism” competition sponsored by Facebook and the US State Department.
On November 30, MIGS hosted the book launch of “The Global Impact of Religious Violence” (Wipf and Stock, 2016). The book's three editors, André Gagné, Spyridon Loumakis and Calogero A. Miceli, presented their work and answered questions from the audience.
Also on November 30, MIGS’ institutional partner the Canadian All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and other Crimes Against Humanity held its annual general meeting, formally electing the new chair of the group Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi. Karli Zschogner will be supporting the group's’ work as MIGS’ intern on Parliament Hill for the next year.
On November 28, as a follow-up to the Global Diplomacy Lab, MIGS helped the Institut d'études internationales de Montréal (IEIM) host a discussion with Colombia’s Ambassador to Canada, his Excellency Nicolas Lloreda-Ricaurte, at UQAM.
On 24 November Kyle Matthews spoke at a conference on ‘Forgotten Refugee Crises’ hosted by the Canadian Refugee Council.
On November 22, MIGS’ Fellow Michael Petrou was a panelist at event titled “The Tehran Test: How human rights cases in Iran are putting Canada’s foreign policy approach to the test”, organized by the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS), OpenCanada.org and the Baha’i Community of Canada, in Ottawa.
On November 18, with the support of the US consulate, MIGS hosted the first meeting of The North American Working Group to Counter Violent Extremism Online welcoming 25 American and Canadian experts at Concordia University.
On November 16-17, MIGS held the first Global Forum on Countering Violent Extremism at Concordia University.
In the Media
December 9
The White Helmets event was covered in numerous media outlets:
● CTV News
● Op-ed: “Le Courage des Casques Blancs Syriens” written by Agnes Gruda in La Presse
● Op-ed by the director of the White Helmet, Ra’ed Al’ Saleh in La Presse (French version) and The Globe and Mail (English version)
● Radio Canada 10 pm news with Céline Galipeau
● Article in 45e Nord
December 8
Executive Director Kyle Matthews and MIGS’ distinguished Senior Fellow Roméo Dallaire published an op-ed on Opencanada.org, ‘A new Canada-Mexico partnership — one that fights against mass atrocities’.
On December 8, Kyle Matthews, MIGS’ Fellow Diego Osorio, and IEIM’s Kim Fontaine-Skronski wrote a summary of the Global Diplomacy Lab which took place in Montreal at the beginning of November. A video of the panel on Smart Cities and digital diplomacy, featuring Harout Chitilian and Cathryn Cluever, and Louise Guay is now available.
December 7
Marie Lamensch did a radio interview with CBC Homerun on the crisis in Aleppo, Syria.
December 1
MIGS’ non-resident fellow Michael Petrou published ‘Last Man Standing’ in The Walrus.
November 29
Kyle Matthews spoke to Concordia News about the Syrian crisis and the White Helmets’ upcoming visit to Montreal.
November 28
Michael Petrou published an op-ed titled “How Trudeau Can Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Trump” in Foreign Policy.
November 23
MIGS’ Marie Lamensch and Kyle Matthews in cooperation with Professor André Gagné and Ph.D. student Marc-André Argentino penned an open letter for The Huffington Post Quebec on the role of religion in violent extremism (in French).