The Pearson Centre was established in 1994 to support international peace and security. The first of its kind in the world, the Pearson Centre was named in honour of Lester B. Pearson, former Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in establishing the United Nations Emergency Force – the first modern international peace operation.
The Pearson Centre works in partnership with organizations to design and deliver innovative solutions for capacity building. Today most of Pearson Centres work is conducted outside of Canada – on five continents, but principally in Africa and Latin America. Our expertise can equally be applied to Canadian organizations who work in Canada or internationally, especially in the context of promoting the universal principles of human rights and corporate social responsibility.
The Pearson Centre has trained nearly 20,000 soldiers, police and civilians on a range of issues from human rights, sexual and gender-based violence, to how to design a learning product. We are a thought leader and mentor in helping many of these organizations to develop their own training modules. We operate with the understanding that our impact is exponentially amplified when military, police and civilian perspectives are integrated.