ROTARY PEACE FORUM COMMITTEE

On December 1, 2012, District 5790 held its first-ever Peace Symposium.  The event was planned by a group of Rotary leaders from across the district.  The event was enormously successful thanks to the attendees, the speakers, the highlighted organizations, and the organizers.

The goals of the event were to connect Rotarians with other local organizations working to promote peace, and to help attendees understand the many obstacles to peace (such as hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, poverty, prejudice, etc.).

There were nine workshops broken into three sessions.  Each attendee selected three workshops to attend from among the following options: 

First Session:

Water and sanitation                                                Sandy Forster, Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group

Military as an instrument of peace                             Jim Meernik, UNT-Peace Studies

Education and Community Peace building                  Dianna Phillips, Executive Director United Way Wichita Falls

Second Session:

Causes of war and preventing recurrence                  David Mason, UNT-Peace Studies

Economic development and conflict                         Dr. Paul Geisel, PDG, Fort Worth East Rotary Club

Human rights and conflict                                       Angie Nichols, UNT-Peace Studies

Third Session:

Infant mortality and conflict relationship                   Marcy Paul, UNTHSC, School of Public Health

Effectiveness of conflict resolution                          Mike Greig, UNT-Peace Studies

A Peace module for your club                                Dave Hurt, President, Arlington West Rotary Club

Attendees also had the opportunity to explore partnerships between Rotary and other community programs working to address the obstacles to peace:

Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, Healthy Communities

Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans

Shelter Box

Real School Gardens

Texas Refugee Services

Human Rights Initiative

United Way Education Programs

Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group

Fort Worth Sister Cities

World Affairs Council

Everyone left the symposium with ideas to take to their club, and a commitment to communicate the message that all Rotary humanitarian projects contribute to the quest for peace.  Many attendees, facilitators, and organizations asked if we can expect a second annual peace symposium in 2013.