Page 17 - Gears and Ears October 2014

Gears and Ears

Journal of the Rotary Club of Lake BuenaVista
Page 17

Rotary Peace Centers shape hundreds of careers in peace
and conflict resolution

With bloodyconflictsraging in theMiddleEast,
EasternEurope,andpartsof CentralAfrica, the
messageofnonviolenceandreconciliation that
nationsworldwide observedon21September
demandsmoreurgentandcollective attention.
In 2001theUnited Nations designatedthe
SeptemberdateasanannualInternational Dayof
World Peace“to beobservedasadayof global
ceasefireandnonviolence” accordingtoa
GeneralAssemblyresolution.Theday’sdevotion
to peaceconnectsclosely with what Rotary
membershavebeenfostering sinceTheRotary
Foundation’smissiontoadvanceworld
understanding,goodwill, andpeace,was
proclaimedin 1917.
Rotary’sgoalofworldwide peaceandtolerancehasbeenanunwaveringpursuit: conductingglobalforums, hosting
international peacesymposiums,advancingpeacethroughits 60-year collaboration with theUN, aswell asgrassroots
initiatives suchastheRotarianAction Groupfor Peace.

But Rotary’s mostsignificant effort to wagepeaceistheRotary PeaceCentersprogram,establishedin 2002.Eachyear,the
programtrains someof theworld’s mostdedicatedandbrightest professionals, preparingthemto promotenational and
international cooperationandto resolveconflict. They include graduatesof atwo-year master’sdegreeprogramandathree-
monthprofessionalcertificate programatRotary’s partneruniversities.

Today, morethan900peacefellows areapplying their expertisein variousfields. They’re settling borderconflicts in West
Africa, developingaidprogramsattheWorld Bank,drafting legislation toprotectexploitedchildrenin Brazil, providing
security for U.S. diplomats, andmanyother careerpathsdevotedto peace.

To commemoratetheInternational Dayof World Peace,RotaryPeaceFellowshipsalumni sharehowtheprogramhasshaped
theirlives:

David Chick, DukeUniversity andUniversity of North Carolina at ChapelHill (Duke/UNC), 2005-07Director, Peace
andConflict Section,Australian Departmentof ForeignAffairs andTrade

“It canreally bealife-changing program.Thereis rarely aweekthatgoesbywhereI don’t usetheskills thatI gained.My
studiesof conflict resolutionandnegotiationassistmein thinking throughoptionstosupportpreventivediplomacy inAustralia’s
neighborhoods.You neverleavethepeaceprogram!After somanyyearsof operation, thereis areal community of peace
fellows out there,dedicatedto thecause.”

JaneKellum, University of El Salvador,2007-09Chief of Party,Partnersfor Learning/Education,

CARE International in Haiti -- “Two of thepractical coursesprovidedmewith themostvaluableskills andknowledgethatI
useonadaily basis.Theappliedfield experienceprovided metheopportunity to immediately put mynewly gainedskills and
knowledgeinto practice.Thecohort element(andresulting alumni network) of thepeacecentersisanextremely valuable
aspectof theprogram.Theconnectionwith Rotary providesavaluableopportunity to beconnectedtoall theopportunities,
networks,thatthiscaliber of international organizationoffers.”
Fromanarticle by RyanHyland andPaulEngleman - ReadmorecommentsandLearn moreaboutRotary PeaceCenters

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