Editor’s Note: This “DID YOU KNOW?” article is designed to help you discover and learn about the rich Rotary International life that happens outside of our individual clubs’ walls. This month’s article focuses on the Positive Peace Activators program.
Are you wondering what the next steps are for you now that you have completed the “Rotary Positive Peace Academy” course which is 2-hour online course created through a partnership between Rotary and the Institute of Economics and Peace (“IEP”)? Consider becoming a Rotary Positive Peace Activator.
Background
Rotary members organizing and working at the community-level make it possible to create environments where lasting peace is possible, and, in turn, bring about more peaceful societies - from the local to the global.
The Rotary-IEP Partnership, which began in 2017, equips and trains Rotary members in IEP's Pillars of Positive Peace framework - providing a unique structure to:
- View peace as a process and a system versus a product or result.
- Build capacity in how Rotarians think about peace and development.
- Provide educational resources to move initiatives forward.
The Rotary Positive Peace Activator is the core training program of the Rotary-IEP Partnership.
Why Positive Peace?
IEP's Positive Peace research demonstrates that lasting peace cannot be built merely on the absence of violence but rather requires a supportive social system inclusive of factors such as good governance, access to needed services, a sound business environment and respect for the right of others.
Rotary's Areas of Focus - peacebuilding and conflict prevention, but also disease prevention and treatment, water, sanitation and hygiene, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and community economic development – are all integral investments in Positive Peace.
IEP's empirical research helps illuminate these drivers of peace, providing data that peacebuilders can utilize to enhance the impact of their initiatives.
Here is the website link: https://www.positivepeace.academy/about-activators
I wish you the best of luck as you explore this opportunity.
Todd Restel
District Governor 6250