Dear friends,
In Ancient Greece, the idea of peace was strictly related to a primordial period of harmony, stability, and prosperity. In the Roman Empire, peace was brought in the area of values and it was brought to reality through Pax Romana, a stable way of organization of the social life and an international order system. Today, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom, justice, and peace are based on the recognition of equal rights for all people.
Where there is peace, there is prosperity, therefore economic growth. Internal conflicts, discrimination, the type of regime, the social climate for building peace and the conflict with neighboring countries play a more important role than money, work, technology, and economic policies. Peace decreased insecurity, distrust, and risk, increasing economic growth. Where there is peace, there is prosperity.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that the Rotary mission is to offer services to others, to promote integrity, and to advance world kindness and peace through our community of leaders and businesspeople. How do we do this? Through the 6 areas of action: we support education, we save mothers and children, we fight against disease, we grow local economies, we assure access to clean waters, and we promote peace. However, none of these would be possible without peace. Peace is the base and the glue of all our areas of action. Just like conflict, peace feeds on itself: peace creates more peace, conflict creates more conflict.
The high number of conflicts in the world has brought forward the need for professionals who would consolidate peace. Our collaboration for the past 75 years with peace symposiums and peace forums of the UN is a declaration of continuity and dedication to building peace.
Peace is the value Rotary has dedicated 6 study centers to, so as to identify and train professionals to become peace agents. The world’s leaders of all time talk about peace as the supreme ideal of the human race. However, I’m proposing to shift our attention from the bigger picture to ourselves, because peace begins with our own person. Trying to bring peace to the world by changing individuals is difficult, but it’s the only way. As the great spiritual leaders say, love, compassion, and altruism are the bases of peace. Let’s stop for a few moments and ask ourselves: how do we grow these values in ourselves? How do we solve conflicts that show up in our lives and, yes, even in our clubs? Even more so, what are the best practices to solve these situations quickly and effectively, so as to promote peace?
Here are a few ideas for your club:
- appoint a peace responsible who will solve conflicts and periodically organize debates on best practices
- join a peace corps group https://www.rotarianactiongroupforpeace.org
- donate and support peace projects in the world https://my.rotary.org/en/donate
- organize events in schools, kindergartens, disadvantage communities, reeducation centers or prisons and talk about peace and solving conflicts
- organize essay contests with prizes for students
- organize public debates or videos and invite field specialists
- attend TV or radio shows and talk in the media about effective ways to create peace and solving conflicts
- create durable and efficient peace projects and attend the Rotarian Peace Projects Incubator, Geneva – Switzerland 16-17 July 2020
https://www.rotarianactiongroupforpeace.org/peaceincubator/
I invite you to share with us the projects created by your club and tell us about the impact peace projects have on your community. In Rotary, we see peace not as an abstract concept, but as a live expression of human progress and the way in which we leave our mark on the world. If we collaborate to create peace at a local level, we can create durable change on a global level.
On the 23rd of February, we celebrate the International Peace and Understanding Day and 115 years since our organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois USA. Rotary is one of the biggest non-governmental organizations in the world, dedicated to bettering the human condition in local communities around the globe. It is a reason for celebration. It is time we remembered the values that unite us. I invite you all to celebrate together through actions dedicated to the 115 years of service above self and to promote ou greatest success: reducing polio cases by 99.9% and vaccinating over 2.5 billion children. Rotary is a force of good that connects us to one another, through common values, and to the world, through our projects. Today, more than ever, we are called to become a source of inspiration through personal example for our family, our colleagues, friends, neighbors, and members of our communities, through the way we make a difference around us.
Armed with power and courage, for peace, for education and health, for friendship within the community as well as for our planet, for our children, for our future, now is the time to step ahead, arm yourself with all the necessary knowledge and honor the role of people of action. NOW is the time for change for each of us.
I am ending the newsletter dedicated to peace and resolving conflicts with the quote that, 115 years ago, founded a vision for humanity: “Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves.” – Paul Harris.
Sincerily,
Marian Neagoe
District Governor 2241, Romania si Republica Moldova
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USEFUL LINKS
GRANT MANAGEMENT SEMINAR LEADERS GUIDE
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TRAININGS (In Romanian)