Founder and executive director of War Child Canada, Samantha Nutt, is a medical doctor with more than 15 years of experience working in war zones. She has helped children in some of the world’s most violent flashpoints, working with War Child Canada, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burundi, northern Uganda, Ethiopia and the Thai-Burmese border.
Over the course of her professional career and as the founder and executive director of War Child Canada, Dr. Nutt has spearheaded efforts to provide direct humanitarian support and long term programming to war-affected children and their families, and to promote greater awareness in Canada concerning the rights of children everywhere.
Dr. Nutt will be speaking as part of a national tour of her new book Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid, that was released in October to wide acclaim.
The memoir of her 15 years providing hands-on care in some of the world’s most violent flashpoints while building War Child Canada, provides a deeply thoughtful meditation on war and the civilians it affects. It was nominated by Stephen Lewis to be a Canada Reads non-fiction choice and has received praise from David Suzuki, K’Naan, Lloyd Axworthy and others.
A specialist in maternal and child health in zones of armed conflict, family medicine, public health, refugee health and women’s health, Dr. Nutt is also on staff at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto and is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto in the department of family and community medicine. Dr. Nutt’s work on behalf of war-affected communities around the world has been widely recognized and awarded throughout the world. She is a recipient of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Award (Globe and Mail). She was designated by Time Magazine as one of “Canada’s Five Leading Activists.” CBC News has profiled her as a “Canadian leader.” CTV National News has declared her a “Canadian Success Story” and Maclean’s Magazine featured her in their annual Honour Roll as one of “Twelve Canadians Making a Difference.” Most recently, Dr. Nutt received the Order of Ontario, the highest official honour in the province of Ontario.
Dr. Nutt will be speaking as part of the Fall Mir Lecture Series Thursday at the Capitol Theatre in Nelson at 7 p.m.. Tickets are $12 regular; $10 seniors and students and available by calling 250-352-6363 or online at capitoltheatre.bc.ca For more information on the Mir Lecture Series, call 250.365.1234 or selkirk.ca/mir/.