Today, over 70 million people are displaced as a result of conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. Half of them are children.
We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. Rotary projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts.
Rotary creates environments of peace
As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.
By carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
Our commitment to peacebuilding today answers new challenges: how we can make the greatest possible impact and how we can achieve our vision of lasting change. We are approaching the concept of peace with greater cohesion and inclusivity, broadening the scope of what we mean by peacebuilding, and finding more ways for people to get involved.
Rotary creates environments where peace can happen.
Rotary’s Four Roles in Promoting Peace
Rotary and its members are:
- Practitioners: Our work fighting disease, providing clean water and sanitation, improving the health of mothers and children, supporting education, and growing local economies directly builds the optimal conditions for peaceful societies.
- Educators: Our Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,700 peace fellows to become effective catalysts for peace through careers in government, education, and international organizations.
- Mediators: Our members have negotiated humanitarian ceasefires in areas of conflict to allow polio vaccinators to reach children who are at risk.
- Advocates: Our members have an integral role as respected, impartial participants during peace processes and in post-conflict reconstruction. We focus on creating communities and convening groups that are connected, inclusive, and resilient.
Stories
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Empower Youth
Young people from Rio de Janeiro’s infamous favelas find an outlet for their energy – and a chance at Olympic gold – through Rotary.
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Bridge cultures
Rotary Youth Exchange student learns understanding and appreciation of another culture and the key to global citizenship, progress, and peace.
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Break myths
Hunted for body parts and isolated by fear, Tanzanians with albinism are finding new futures through Rotary programs that fight pervasive myths and stigmas.
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Prevent Domestic Violence
Australia Rotary clubs raise awareness and funds to prevent domestic violence and support its victims.
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Educate Refugees
A university president and Rotary club fight Boko Haram to educate refugees in Nigeria.
We support peace
The Rotary Action Group for Peace gives Rotary members resources and support to advance peace efforts and turn ambitious ideas into life-changing realities.
Spread the word about Rotary’s efforts to promote peace
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What can you do to promote peace?
I wanted to do something to help prevent war, rather than addressing its consequences.
Robert Opira
Rotary Peace Fellow, University of Queensland, 2005-07
Healing scars of war