Prof. Waller Leads Genocide Training in Africa

Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Director of Academic Programs at the Auschwitz Institute James Waller was in Kampala, Uganda, from Jan. 7–9 leading a three-day training workshop on genocide prevention for the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). Representatives from all 12 member states attended, and eight of those states are in the process of developing national committees related to the prevention of genocide, so the impact of Dr. Waller’s expertise was profound.

The event included the sixth meeting of the ICGLR’s Regional Committee on the Prevention of Genocide as well as two days of additional training for the committee members. The training was done under the auspices of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation; Dr. Waller developed the curriculum for the two days and taught two of seven program modules. The training also is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office as well as the Stanley Foundation.

At least one (and often more) of the countries in the Great Lakes Region of Africa has been at war on every day of the past 50 years. Some of those wars have also led to episodes of genocide—most notably in Rwanda in 1994. The ICGLR regional committee is composed of national committee members from the countries who are committed to making genocide prevention a matter of national policy. ”Our training is designed to give them the tools to do that—including understanding the risk factors for, and early warning signs of, genocide; the role of the media as partners in prevention; the role of women in prevention; and issues of memory and memorialization in promoting inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness,” Dr. Waller said.

“Participants have been impressed that KSC is the home to the only undergraduate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies,” Dr. Waller explained. ”In the ‘small world’ category, one of the interns from Kampala’s Centre for Governance, Peace, and Security is from Georgetown University’s Conflict Resolution master’s program. While at that program, she was the student mentor for two recent KSC HGS grads—Chloe Edmonds and Matthew Parkes. It was a pleasure to hear her speak of the quality of our graduates and the ways in which KSC and our major prepared them for a top-flight program like Georgetown.”

—Mark Reynolds