Let’s celebrate our Rotary Foundation
November
2006
Dear Rotary
family,
November is
Rotary Foundation Month, a time when Rotarians
worldwide celebrate their Foundation’s
achievements of the past 90 years. They pay
tribute to the Foundation and offer their
personal contributions. It’s a time of happiness
and joy.
If the Foundation
must be measured by the success of its programs,
the programs themselves are the best measure of
its success. For example, 10 years ago, in
1996-97, Rotary International and The Rotary
Foundation made a significant decision to help
the world become a safer place. As the world
became more globally connected, we saw more
violence, more tribal conflicts, more
difficulties in finding a shared vision of world
peace. What could we do about it? The purpose of
our programs has always been world understanding
and peace, but we wanted to do something with a
more practical, tangible effect. Thus began the
Rotary Centers for International Studies in
peace and conflict resolution.
Five years ago,
on 11 September 2001, I was in New York City and
witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center
towers. Like the rest of the world, I was
appalled that anyone would do such a terrible
thing. It convinced me of how necessary the
Rotary Centers program was going to be. A few
weeks later, the first class of Rotary World
Peace Fellows was chosen.
Since then, we
have graduated more than 230 Rotary World Peace
Fellows. Thanks to their course of study, these
individuals understand the complexity of
deep-seated conflicts. They bring comprehensive
analytical skills to bear on the most difficult
problems. As you read this message, Rotary
Centers alumni are in the field around the world
working to prevent and resolve conflicts at the
community, national, and international levels.
These members of the inaugural 2002-04 class are
just a few examples:
Bautista Logioco
(Duke University, USA) is a specialist with the
Department of Crisis Prevention and Special
Missions, Secretariat for Political Affairs, at
the Organization of American States in
Washington, D.C. He has been to Central America
many times, where he has helped negotiate border
disputes and overseen free elections. He
specializes in matters related to Colombia.
Francesca Del Mese
(University of Queensland, Australia) is a legal
officer with the Office of the Prosecutor at the
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. She
possesses extensive experience in war crime
tribunals, due in part to the international
internships she completed during her fellowship.
Jan
Nemecek
(Universidad del Salvador, Argentina) is an
assistant to a Czech member of the European
Parliament, working with the EU’s Environment
and Public Health and Employment and Social
Affairs committees.
The success of
these and many other fellows has led the
Trustees to convene the first Rotary World Peace
Symposium, which will focus on the Rotary
Centers for International Studies program. The
symposium will be held 14-16 June 2007 in Salt
Lake City, Utah, USA, just before the RI
Convention. It will be a rare and exciting
opportunity for you to meet many of our Rotary
World Peace Fellows and alumni. The Rotary World
Peace Symposium will focus on their
accomplishments, their plans, and their
strategies for making the world a safer, more
peaceful place.
This is Rotary’s
vision. Through this program, we are creating a
cadre of people trained in the practical skills
of negotiating peaceful resolutions. This is an
entirely new idea, and Rotary is leading the
way.
I hope you will
join me in Salt Lake City for the Rotary World
Peace Symposium. I assure you it will be an
enlightening experience for everyone as we show
Rotarians — and the world — how deeply committed
Rotary World Peace Fellows are to Rotary’s goal
of world understanding and peace. We look
forward to seeing you to celebrate our Rotary
Foundation at one of the most important events
of the Salt Lake City convention.
Sincerely,
Luis Vicente Giay
Trustee Chair, The Rotary Foundation, 2006-07
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