What does it mean to find our humanity?
Our beloved colleague David Gee passed away at the end of 2024. We wanted to take time to share about David's life, his work and his humanity. David believed in the power and the purpose of hope. As we work and hope in the days ahead, we will continue to carry him with us.
At the end of 2024 CRIN lost a beloved colleague, David Gee. David was a warm and generous person who shared the meaning of his life - in both living and in dying - with many.
With David’s same spirit of giving, we wish to share with our community more about who he was, what he dedicated his life to, what we learned from him and what impact he has left on us. As the world continues to present its many challenges, we feel it is important to be reminded of what it means to be a genuine human being - one who is curious, thinks of others, reflects upon the path our world is on, and who calls on all of us to think and act with foresight, integrity and kindness.
David was such a human.
David worked with CRIN since 2017. He wore many hats, including as a peace activist, but his primary role at CRIN was as an expert on ending the military enlistment of children in the UK armed forces. He worked on this issue for nearly 15 years, both at Child Soldiers International and later at CRIN. He conducted extensive research, wrote briefings and reports, developed campaign strategies, met with MPs, spoke with journalists, listened to those with lived experience, and collaborated with staff working on this issue.
David felt strongly that the UK’s military recruitment of children is a grave injustice and a violation of children’s rights. His last report, published weeks before his passing in December, documented over a decade of abuse at the UK’s main army training college for under-18s, including testimonies from former recruits.
There can be no doubt that if one day the UK raises its age of military enlistment to 18, it will be in no small part because of David Gee.
But David’s contribution to CRIN went beyond what he did, it was also how he did it. David was beautifully reflective, and an incredible listener. When you met with him, he was genuinely curious about what you thought and felt about something. He would encourage you with simple words, infused with care and insight. He had high standards, but he also knew how to gently bring out the best in people. He would make you smile and laugh through any challenges.
The world right now - at least for us - feels less humane. As tensions rise and divisions become starker, our world calls for more David Gees, not fewer. We feel that the qualities he had are qualities that can be present in all of us.
Despite our deep admiration for David, he would not want to be put on a pedestal. He was human, like everyone else. That is what we think he would want us to reflect upon. What does it mean to find our humanity? To show up for each other - in moments of crisis and uncertainty? What does it mean to be alive to the world, facing its tragedies and accepting our limits, but doing the work all the same? In spite of - or in defiance of - our restrictions?
This is what his living - and passing - has made us consider at CRIN.
Because who David was, at the core, was so wonderfully human.
We are sending our love, appreciation and care to David’s partner, family and friends. And we would encourage every reader to visit David’s blog to get a deeper sense of the person David was. We will miss him tremendously and carry him with us, always.
It feels only right to end with David’s own words:
A hopeful place here, would be alive to the world, inspired by its promise and willing to face its tragedy. It would have a feeling for what matters most and a real commitment to it. It would accept the limits of its power, knowing that its work still counts. And it would be a centre of solidarity: both inwardly, in cultivating the integrity of genuine community; and outwardly, in reaching for alliances with others.