Kinross West Africa is a proud supporter of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI), a global partnership committed to ending the use and recruitment of child soldiers and labour in the extractive industry worldwide. In many conflict and unstable areas around the world, particularly in Africa, children are used as soldiers, intelligence collectors, slaves, in criminality and in sexual abuse, among other things. Kinross is the first company in the mining and private sector to support the Dallaire initiative, and will provide new training and research opportunities in Ghana in the spring of 2014.
In November 2013, Brian McAlpine (Manager, Global Security Governance) and Harry Ferreira (Manager, Regional Security, Kinross Africa) attended a training session in Sierra Leone, along with other public security sector actors (military, police and prison services). The session provided the first and only training to these security actors on how to interact with children in conflict and unstable areas.
Kinross’ support will bring Dallaire’s initiative to Ghana, and not only help train public security actors but Kinross’ own security as well. This initiative is one of the efforts to stabilize areas where Kinross operates, and we hope to bring the program to Mauritania in the future.
(From left to right): Brian McAlpine(Manager, Global Security Governance, Kinross), Hon. Sen. (Lt. Gen. Ret’d) Roméo Dallaire, and Harry Ferreira (Manager, Regional Security, Kinross Africa) attending a Child Soldiers Initiative training session in Sierra Leone.
