Rotary Peace Fellows showcase peace-building solutions across disciplines
July 18, 2024UNC Global Affairs
It can be difficult to know how to effect positive change in the world as an individual. This year’s Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Conference — “From Self to Society: Envisioning Our Relationship to Peace” — dealt with exactly this challenge.
Rotary Peace Fellows selected from around the world complete a rigorous two-year master’s program at either Duke University or UNC-Chapel Hill, fully funded by Rotary International. The Center takes a broad approach to peace studies, and fellows study international development, global studies, social work, public health and other disciplines.
At the end of the fellowship, they present ideas for solving global challenges — often ones they face in their home countries — at the annual conference, which was held on April 6. Fellows present their work on a variety of topics related to peace-building and conflict resolution to an audience of Rotarians, Carolina staff, faculty, students and community members. This year, more than 200 people attended the conference in-person, with around 70 joining online.
Duke, Carolina educate for peace-building
The Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center is one of seven Rotary Peace Centers in the world and the only one in the United States. It is also the only Peace Center existing jointly between two universities and offers a wider variety of concentrations than the other seven centers.
“Our educational approach focuses on preventing conflicts through sustainable development and improving human security. We believe that societies in which citizens have access to adequate food, shelter, health care, clean water and education will be less likely to engage in conflict,” Tom Lasater said. Lasater is the program coordinator for the center.
Alexis Mwanza, a graduate of this year’s cohort from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has taken an interdisciplinary approach to peace-building through a public health lens.
“I have one foot in public health and one foot in peace-building so for me it’s an opportunity to show people that peace-building and public health can work together — to show that there are solutions, in my case, to solve gender-based violence,” Mwanza said.
During the program, fellows engage in field study internships and service projects to apply what they are learning in class, and they get involved with local Rotary Clubs to connect with community leaders.
Annual conference builds community to make meaningful change
This year, the 10 graduating fellows gave presentations and participated in panel discussions that dealt with community health, migration, sustainable development and more as catalysts of peace-building and how to promote peace-building as an individual. For many of the fellows, the conference was a physical representation of this year’s theme. It was an opportunity to bridge the gap between self and society, and in doing so, change their communities.
“A conference like this is fundamental to bridge the knowledge produced in academia and the needs of policymaking,” Paola Saldivias Mendez, a first-year fellow from Bolivia, said. “From a community-building perspective, it is a meeting space for ideas and individuals to continue shaping the efforts that inform humanitarian and development practices.”
Many of the fellows come from low-income countries and underrepresented communities. The conference provides a space for them to share their perspectives with an influential, invested and multinational audience. Mwanza said the conference was an important opportunity to reflect on his work, but it also led to something else. A few conference attendees expressed interest in working with him in the future. Inspiring change and realizing opportunities make this conference a crucial component of the fellowship, according to several participants.
“At the conference, people heard our stories. People can make decisions, they can choose to act and the community will feel that impact,” Mwanza said. “For me as an individual it would be difficult to impact the community and effect change on my own, but as fellows we are pushing organizations, governments and decision-makers to act. That has an impact. That is for the community.”
Saldivias Mendez shared similar insights, stressing that the conference succeeds through changing people’s hearts and minds, both the fellowship participants and the conference attendees.
“I think that is precisely where change is fostered, on a personal level,” Saldivias Mendez said. “It is very common to hear about people thinking that the social problems are too big to be tackled by one person. But I think that is precisely where change starts, on an individual level. After all, society is the sum of us all. We can’t really expect ‘society’ to change without first changing ourselves.”