August 28, 2018, Published in Rotarian Action Group For Peace.
“It is true that the way to war is a well-paved highway and that the way to peace is still a wilderness.” Paul Harris spoke those famous words in an interview with the Tuskegee Rotary Club in 1945. Mr. Harris and Rotary had experienced the structural “well-paved highway” that led to two world wars by this time, and he was promoting a new initiative involving Rotarians called the United Nations.
“My forty-one years of promoting understanding and goodwill in the ranks of Rotary give me the courage to insist that the plan of the United Nations is not an idle dream; that it is practical, and that given half a chance, it will succeed,” Harris declared in the 1945 interview.
Monday, December 10th, 2018 marks the 70th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. Rotarians wrote the outline for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1943. Rotary’s role in the formation of the United Nations helped establish a framework and opened a dialogue between nations that paved a way to peace and support of human rights around the world. As Rotary clubs and districts celebrate the 70th anniversary of this historic document, they also commemorate Rotary’s deep, historic relationship with the United Nations.
| Rotarian Action Group For Peace (RAGFP) celebrated the 70th year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by activating Rotarians to spark peace within their communities worldwide. RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs are a strategy we have adopted to build momentum for peace in Rotary. The number of Peacebuilder Clubs has grown from nine original Peacebuilder Clubs in 2011 to now over 85 Peacebuilder Clubs in 2018. |
Meet the RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs
| Every Rotarian is a peacebuilder. Peacebuilder Clubs allow Rotarians to gather regularly and focus on peace, discuss peace action, and educate neighbors about Rotarian principles of peacebuilding. Peacebuilder Clubs establish peace projects and initiatives within Rotary clubs and districts that often involve bringing together local community members who may never have opportunities to meet otherwise. They provide an infrastructure for peace action at the grassroots level globally, just as the United Nations provides the institutional framework for peace among nations. |
RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs help identify Rotary Peace Fellow candidates to be sponsored by their Rotary districts. They provide local support of these candidates through an exhaustive selection process. Peacebuilder Clubs motivate fellow Rotarians to support the Rotary Peace Fellows program and become Peacebuilder Districts.
RAGFP is pleased to highlight that some of our new RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs, including clubs in Serbia, Egypt and Uganda, were formed in areas that are striving for institutionalized peace. Peacebuilder Clubs offer local Rotarians the means and methods to systemize peace in their communities and become part of an international network for peace. The United Nations empowers lives and builds resilience at the nation-state level. RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs inspire this same model of cooperation at the local/community level and offer an excellent example of how Rotarians and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights pave the way for peace in our world. Help celebrate today’s anniversary by using #StandUp4HumanRights on social media platforms.
Read the Original RAGFP Newsletter Here
Rotarians Play Vital Role in Peacebuilding since the Establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Rotarians celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and commemorate important peace milestones documenting the role of Rotary International in peacebuilding around the world.
Watch a Video Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by using #StandUp4HumanRights on social media.
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