Canada’s Contribution to the UN’s Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA): From Risk Taking to Being a Responsible Global Player

The panel will explore issues such as:

• What is MINUSMA’s mandate?
• What is the current local context in Mali since the 2015 Peace Accord?
• Is Mali a good choice for this first Canada’s re-engagement in peacebuilding operations?
• Can Canada make a difference?
• What could it do better?

The panel will be moderated by Bruce Montador.

Panelist Biographies:

Corey Levine: Corey Levine is a human rights and peacebuilding policy expert, researcher and writer. She has worked in conflict areas for more than twenty years, including in Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and Palestine with non-governmental (Amnesty International and CARE International), as well as bilateral (CIDA) and multilateral organizations (UNHCR, UNICEF and OSCE). She has written for the Ottawa Citizen, Embassy Magazine, This Magazine and Huffington Post Canada. She has also published a number of academic articles. From November 2016 – November 2017, Corey was the International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights and Gender Advisor for the European Union Military Training Mission in Mali.

Corey’s March 19 2018 article : https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/levine-mali-it-will-take-more-than-a-few-canadian-choppers-to-solve-this-west-african-quagmire

 Bruno Charbonneau: Bruno Charbonneau is an expert on the international politics of African conflicts, their management and resolution, as well as on peacekeeping interventions, especially in Francophone Africa. He is currently working on the consequences of French and United Nations military operations in Mali, on the distinction between “peace keeping” and the “war against terrorism”, as well as on relations between conflict, security and development in West Africa. Bruno is Associate Professor at the Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, and Director of the Centre Franco-Paix, Chaire Raoul Dandurand, UQAM.  Link to articles on Mali from the “Centre Franco-Paix”: https://dandurand.uqam.ca/centre-francopaix/

Louise Ouimet: Louise is an expert in public administration and working as a consultant, especially in African countries. She is currently on the Africa Study Group Steering Committee and past Chair (2013-16). Louise worked at the Canadian International Development Agency for 35 years, and served as Ambassador to Burkina Faso (1995-97) and Mali (2001-05).