Athens, Ga. – Delta Air Lines and the University of Georgia will present the 2012 Delta Prize for Global Understanding to Roméo Dallaire, a Canadian senator and retired Canadian Army lieutenant-general, during a ceremony on March 16 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.
Established in 1997 with an $890,000 endowment grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, the Delta Prize is administered by UGA. The prize consists of 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.
Besides his military and political career, Dallaire is founder of the Child Soldiers Initiative, which aims to eradicate the use of child soldiers, which he discusses further in his most recent book, They Fight Like Soldiers; They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers. As an advocate for human rights, Dallaire focuses on war-affected children, women, Canadian First Nations and military veterans.
Dallaire was appointed force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda prior to and during the 1994 genocide, which he details in Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.
Who: Delta Air Lines and the University of Georgia
What: Presentation of the Delta Prize for Global Understanding to Roméo Dallaire, a Canadian senator, retired Canadian Army lieutenant-general and founder of the Child Soldiers Initiative
When: Friday, March 16 at 7 p.m.
Where: Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel, University of Georgia campus, Athens, Ga.
“A Conversation with Roméo Dallaire” will be held at 3 p.m. at the Georgia Center in Masters Hall. The discussion will be facilitated by Gary Bertsch, retired director of the UGA Center for International Trade and Security; and Betty Jean Craige, retired director of the university’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts. The two co-founded the Delta Prize. The discussion is free and open to the public.