Sierra Leonean Security Personnel to Lead Specialized Child Protection Training in Rwanda

Two Sierra Leonean police officers, Chief Superintendents Hawa Koloneh Conteh and Zainab Mbalu Gbla, have been selected as the principal instructors for this year’s Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace, and Security child protection training program in Rwanda, scheduled for September 25 – 29.

These accomplished officers, Conteh and Gbla, will be the first from Sierra Leone to lead the training on this course and they will be collaborating with participants from various sectors, including armed forces, police, and civil society groups hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Mozambique, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Uganda. 

This five-day training initiative will encompass both theoretical instruction and scenario-based simulations. The training program is organized by the Dallaire Institute’s Africa Centre of Excellence, a globally renowned institution dedicated to preventing the recruitment and utilization of children in armed conflicts. 

Dr. Shelly Whitman, the Executive Director of the Dallaire Institute, highlighted that the course’s primary objective is to equip participants with the latest child protection practices while also enhancing their capacity to independently lead Dallaire Institute courses across the African continent.

“The Dallaire Institute believes in the importance of collaboration that leads to long term systemic change to place children at the heart of peace and security. The lead trainers’ course will bring together our champions for change from military and police institutions across the African continent, so they can support and learn from each other on how to prevent the recruitment and use of children and we as the Dallaire Institute can continue to learn from their lived experiences to ensure our approaches are effective,” said Whitman.

Notably, the Dallaire Institute has been collaborating with Sierra Leonean military, police, and civil society groups since 2013. Their joint efforts began with in-country consultations in Moyamba District, where they developed a youth-oriented training module addressing child soldier issues and conflict resolution. This endeavor was carried out through a well-established partnership with the Sierra Leonean Pikin-to-Pikin Movement (PPM), overseen by the Child-to-Child Trust based in the United Kingdom.