MONTREAL INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL STABILITY

A think-and-do tank

The rise of political and religious extremism is being felt globally. New technologies have proven a powerful tool to further misinformation, stoke fears and recruit radicals to violent causes. As one of the world’s countries least affected by either isolationist or radical tendencies, Canada has an opportunity to increase its global impact in the pursuit of peace and tolerance.

Born at Concordia more than 30 years ago, the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) was ambitious in its mission and unafraid in its quest for social justice. Today, MIGS unites the largest group of genocide experts in the country and generates work that resonates well beyond the walls of academia. In the words of Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire (ret.): “MIGS is a force in Ottawa. MIGS pumps oxygen through our blood in Parliament.”

With support, we hope to bring the scope and impact of MIGS to a new level. Our vision would see the centre rechristened as the Montreal Institute for Global Stability.

The Montreal Institute for Global Stability will be an ideas and leadership incubator that will become a hub for diplomats, United Nations staff members, humanitarian aid workers, academics and students. Together, they will develop concrete approaches and programs to tackle some of the world’s most vexing problems that threaten global stability and human dignity.

Globally recognized

Concordia has filled a niche role that very few universities have. We are connected with high-level global players in human rights, including several UN agencies. Here is a sample of our recent efforts:

• The Global Diplomacy Lab (GDL), a major initiative of the German Foreign Ministry and three of Germany’s largest foundations, was hosted by Concordia and partners in 206 in Montreal.
• Professional Training Program on Countering Violent Extremism, a two-day program led by Concordia features expert speakers on radicalization, ideology, religion, law and privacy, mass atrocities and the role of traditional and new media.
• Peer to Peer: Challenging Extremism (P2P), a global university initiative sponsored by the United States Department of State and Facebook to curb hate speech and extremism, welcomed Concordia students to present work at the U.S. State Department. We have since collaborated with Facebook on a pilot project to bring peace to the internet.
• #RightsCity — Montreal, ville des droits humains, a global initiative that celebrated Montreal’s role in advancing human rights featured events that partnered Concordia with Amnesty International, the Armenian National Committee of Quebec and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
• Canada’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and other Crimes against Humanity features Concordia as its official academic partner.
• The Milan Forum for Parliamentary Action in Preventing Violent Extremism and Mass Atrocities was convened by MIGS in 2017 along with a global NGO and a private foundation, under the patronage of the Italian Senate, the Italian Parliament and the European Parliament.

Make an impact

Our fully renovated office on Concordia’s downtown campus has a capacity to host 12 full-time staff. With the support of donors, we aim to:

• Establish an annual debate on international human rights at Concordia to engage the public and share expert knowledge — the first recurring event of its kind in Canada.
• Hire a diplomat-in-residence to organize events and bring international human rights experts to Concordia.
• Double the number of people we train. Over the past four years, we have provided training to more than 400 professionals from organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, Oxfam and CARE Canada, as well as government workers.
• Support an influential ambassador and crusader, Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire, who has been engaged with us since 2007 in a voluntary capacity. We seek to provide an annual operational budget for his work, including the hiring of a graduate student who would assist Lt. Gen. Dallaire in conducting studies, writing op-eds and producing speeches.