A gift from Roméo Dallaire

The Child Soldier Initiative, hosted at Dalhousie, is getting a boost thanks to a gift from its founder.

Roméo Dallaire has been selected by Delta Air Lines Inc. and The University of Georgia as the 2012 recipient of the Delta Prize for Global Understanding. Dallaire has chosen to give the $60,000 that comes with the award to the Child Soldier Initiative, which he founded. The initiative is dedicated to stopping the use of child soldiers across the world.

"It is wonderful to have a prize that recognizes the dedication of Roméo Dallaire and that will be of great assistance to the critical work CSI is conducting towards the eradication of the use of child soldiers globally," says Shelly Whitman, director, Child Soldier Initiative and deputy director, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University

The Delta Prize for Global Understanding began in 1997 with an endowment grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation. The prize includes a sculpture, a $10,000 cash award and a $50,000 travel allowance from Delta for a non-profit organization of the recipient’s choice; both have been granted to the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI).

Dallaire was appointed force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda prior to and during the 1994 genocide. His most recent publication, “They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children,” details his passion for finding innovative solutions to the problem of child soldiering.

He accepted the Delta Prize on March 16 at a ceremony in Athens, Georgia.

This article is part of the Dalhousie Difference series, exploring what the power of philanthropy means to the university and introducing and showcasing some of the 50 innovative projects in development.The Child Soldiers Initiative's fundraising goal for the next three years is $2.5 million. Learn more about Bold Ambitions: The Campaign for Dalhousie at boldambitions.dal.ca.