Rotary, and the Role of Rotary Peace
Fellows
Brief overview of the Rotary Peace Fellowship
The Peace Fellowship aims to identify and invest in peace-builders globally in order to:
• Empower
• Educate, and
• Increase capacity of peace-builders.
How does the Fellowship work?
• Choose one of six excellent universities (not in your home country) for Masters degree
• Professional training.
• There is also an ‘Applied Field Experience’ component for three months prior to writing the dissertation.
How does the Fellowship contribute to building peace?
• Build the skills needed for Peace Fellows to act as leaders and catalysts for peace and conflict resolution.
• Bringing professionals together to network and share experiences.
Who are Rotary Peace Fellows?
Who are the Peace Fellows? (cont.)
Class XII at University of Bradford:
• Country Representative for German Red Cross in Haiti
• A qualified medical doctor from Nigeria who has dedicated herself to public health promotion
• The first judge in India to preside over the new special courts in Bombay related to prosecution of sex trafficking cases.
Who am I? • Sharon Edington
• 31 years old (29 when I was a Fellow)
• Have worked in Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Chile, Republic of Georgia, Palestine, Lebanon, Bosnia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Why was I selected?
Professional Experience
Ministry of Education, Atacama Desert, Chile (6.5 months, 2006)
Youth Movement for Peace and Non-violence, Sierra Leone (3 months, 2007)
Deputy Project Manager, Agriculture sector, Papua New Guinea (4 years, 2007-2011)
ActionAid Palestine, West Bank (2 years, 2011 – 2013)
CARE International, Tbilisi, Georgia (2013)
Why was I selected? • Service to my community:
• Refugee support (2002 – 2011)
• Rotary support in Papua New Guinea
• Indigenous Australians (Aboriginals-Torres Strait)
• Leadership skills• Founded a charity• Professionally and personally
• Language skills • Some Spanish, plus very basic Arabic
• Public-speaking• Agency representative for ActionAid Palestine for the
Humanitarian Country Team Advocacy Group and the Association International Development Agency
Will I return Rotary’s investment?
Yes, I will.
• Made the most of the Fellowship through:
• Linkages
• Volunteer work
• Professional development
• Syria crisis refugee work in Beirut
• British Red Cross
• UNHCR placement in Sarajevo
• Shelterbox
Generally, do Peace Fellows really make a difference?
Yes
Example 1: Richelieu Marcel Allison
• Studied at University of Bradford, 2012 - 2013
• Has designed and obtained funding for a three-country project (Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea): Focuses on youth empowerment and engagement with government to enhance accountability
• Also Rich’s organisation ‘West Africa Youth Network’ is running the Nigerian component of a million dollar National Endowment for Democracy project running 2014 – 2015 (2 years)
Example 2: Gavin Raymond• New Zealander
• 11 years in the NZ army including in the Middle East
• Now works on security sector reform
• Transparency International’s Defense and Security team in the UK
• International Christian University Rotary Alumni from 2012
• Now a social entrepreneur, she founded and a month ago launched Refugees on Rails in Berlin – a coding school for refugees – initial intake of 49 students, with volunteer teachers and mentors.
Example 3: Anne Kjaer Riechert
Are Fellowships a good investment for Rotary?
• The Fellows already have strong experience so what is the point of the Fellowship?
• Most countries don’t have universities with strong peace programs (eg. Canada or developing countries)
• Bringing fellows together to form a network of people who will help each other advance Rotary’s goals.
Peace Fellowships
Supporting peace-builders to be the change you want to see in the world.