OmniTRAX/Broe Quest Series
War-Affected Children Conference
Two Steps Forward: Looking Back & Facing the Future
"The Peacekeepers," National Film Board Premiere
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Ramada Conference & Entertainment Centre
(formerly the Garrick Theatre - 330 Garry Street)
With unprecedented access to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping, The Peacekeepers provides an intimate and dramatic portrait of the struggle to save "a failed state."
The film follows the determined and often desperate manoeuvres to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC).
Focusing on the UN mission, the film cuts back and forth between the United Nations headquarters in New York and events on the ground in the DRC. We are with the peacekeepers in the 'Crisis Room' as they balance the risk of loss of life on the ground with the enormous sums of money required from uncertain donor countries. We are with UN troops as the northeast Congo erupts and the future of the DRC, if not all of central Africa, hangs in the balance.
In the background, but often impinging on peacekeeping decisions, are the painful memory of Rwanda, the worsening crisis in Iraq, global terrorism and American hegemony in world affairs. As Secretary General Kofi Annan tells the General Assembly at the conclusion of The Peacekeepers: "History is a harsh judge. The world will not forgive us if we do nothing."
Whether the world's peacekeeper did enough remains to be seen.
Event Program:
Welcome: Emcee
Context: Lloyd Axworthy
Introduce Alison Lawton: Emcee
Introduce Film: Alison Lawton
Stolen Children - Hidden War (Excerpt - 12 mins.)
Introduce Paul Cowan: Emcee
Introduce Documentary: Paul Cowan, Director
Screening (83 mins. 7 sec.)
Panel Discussion / Q & A:
- Paul Cowan (documentary filmmaker)
- Alison Lawton (documentary filmmaker)
- Olara A. Otunnu (UN Special Rep. for Children & Armed Conflict)
- Jimmie Briggs (Goodwill Ambassador and UN Special Envoy for Children & Armed Conflict)
- Moderator: TBD
Wrap Up: Emcee
Refreshments