Posted:聽September 5, 2025
By:聽Yuan Yuan
The $1-million gift is part of a bold聽聽from The Slaight Family Foundation to sustain humanitarian work across 13 Canadian NGOs. For the , it enables a rapid scale-up of security sector training and community engagement 鈥 efforts already in motion in Colombia and Ecuador and now poised to expand across the region.
鈥淲e are grateful to The Slaight Family Foundation for their critical support at a time when children face monumental challenges due to armed violence around the world,鈥 says Dr. Shelly Whitman, executive director of the Dallaire Institute. 鈥淭he timing is urgent. With international aid in steep decline 鈥 particularly following 聽鈥 armed groups in Colombia, Haiti, and across the region are increasingly turning to children as tools of violence.鈥
This work is led by the D, based in Uruguay and directed by Colonel (Ret.) Luis Vi帽as. A veteran of multiple peacekeeping deployments, including recent UN missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, and Colombia, Colonel Vi帽as brings decades of operational experience and has been instrumental in shaping the Dallaire Institute鈥檚 regional partnerships and training curriculum.
A testament to shared values
The Dallaire Institute kicked off its inaugural trainings in Colombia and Ecuador earlier in the year. The Slaight Family Foundation鈥檚 gift will allow the Dallaire Institute to train at least 250 additional security personnel and expand delivery to other high-risk countries in the next two years. It will also support the creation of a regional roster of trainers to carry the work forward and ensure sustainability.
Alongside this regional expansion, the Dallaire Institute will also use this gift to continue to deepen its national efforts in Colombia. These include advancing restorative justice processes for formerly recruited children, working closely with women- and youth-led civil society networks, and developing a practical, field-tested handbook to help security actors prevent child recruitment in contexts of organized violence. Together, these initiatives aim to protect children not only through immediate prevention, but by addressing the systemic conditions that allow recruitment to persist.
This marks The Slaight Family Foundation鈥檚 fourth gift to the Dallaire Institute, including a recent $1-million investment to prevent the recruitment and use of boys and girls with a gender-focused approach. The relationship is a testament to shared values鈥攁nd a recognition of the Dallaire Institute鈥檚 growing role in protecting children where the need is greatest.
As international aid decreases, Canadian philanthropy is helping fill urgent gaps鈥攁nd the Dallaire Institute is ready to respond. With The Slaight Family Foundation鈥檚 support, the Dallaire Institute is scaling its proven prevention model across Latin America, sustaining critical protection work, and ensuring that children remain at the centre of peace and security efforts throughout the region, notes Dr. Whitman.