Developing partnerships are beneficial to expanding Rotary’s impact and reach and to building peace. Peace Fellow Kimberly Weichel shared the work of 3 international organizations and their potential for collaboration: United Nations Associations around the world; the Global Peace Index produced by the Institute of Economics and Peace, and building bridges with Russia through citizen engagement, particularly through RI's Russia InterCountry Committee. Rotarian Robert Stewart discussed potential for partnership with Lions Clubs.

1. Building Partnerships for Peace:
3 Examples
Kimberly Weichel
Rotary Peace Fellow
May 31, 2019

2. Rotary Peace Fellow in 2012

3. Fellowship Cohort from 18 countries

4. Professional Certification Program
Over 3 months we studied key concepts in the field of conflict
resolution:
• Conflict analysis
• Do no harm
• Conflict mapping
• Religion and conflict
• Nonviolent peacemaking
• Regional conflicts
• Peacemaking and peacebuilding
Fellowship included a trip to Burmese refugee camps in northern
Thailand and a 9 day study trip to Cambodia.
Excellent program to build peace and I thank Rotary for supporting this
program.

6. UNA-USA
The UN Association is the largest NGO in America dedicated to
supporting the United Nations, and is the primary organization providing
advocacy and education about the UN’s wide ranging work.
UNA-USA has over 20,000 members in more than 200 chapters
around the US. UNA chapters focus on the importance of global
engagement and advancing the UN’s four fold mission to build
peace, sustainable development, human rights and provide
humanitarian assistance.
You can find local chapters at www.unausa.org

7. The World Federation of UN Associations
(WFUNA)
WFUNA is a global NGO representing a membership of over
100 national UNAs, and works to educate members about
global affairs and to strengthen and improve the United
Nations.
WFUNA's Secretariat is based in New York City and in
Geneva, Switzerland. They also have offices in Seoul,
Korea and Brussels, Belgium. They have consultative status
with many UN agencies. Check out chapters at
www.wfuna.org

8. UN provides food to 80 million people in 80 countries.
Vaccinates 45% of world’s children, saving lives.
Protects 70 million refugees & people fleeing war
Helps more than one million women overcome
pregnancy risks.
Keeps the Peace with more than 100,000
peacekeepers in 16 operations on 4 continents.
The United Nations

9. The Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015 UN member nations adopted 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
otherwise known as the Global Goals,
which are a universal call to action to end
poverty, protect the planet, and work
towards building peace and prosperity by
2030.
UNA-USA works with businesses, the
public sector, NGOs and governments to
ensure we do our part to achieve these
goals.

10. UNA Chapter Events
• Programs and conferences
• Career dinners
• Mentoring programs
• Service-learning events
• Film screenings
• Fundraising for a cause (landmine victims,
refugees)
• Coordinate Model UN programs

11. Model UN

12. UNA Promotes Advocacy
• Advocate in your District or Washington DC
with your Member of Congress. UNA-USA
provides an advocacy guide.
• Advocate for US paying UN dues,
involvement in climate change, ratifying
CEDAW, supporting UN conventions
• UNA offers Advocacy Training webinars
• UNA USA sends sample texts/emails to send to
your Representative

13. Global
Engagement
Summit
1,800 Americans
convened at UN
Headquarters to hear
from UN officials about
global challenges and the
UN’s vital work.
Participants represented
45 states, Washington,
D.C., and Puerto Rico at
this year’s Summit.
UN HEADQUARTERS

14. Global Leadership
Summit
In June, more than 500
UNA-USA members will
attend a 3 day Summit in
Washington, D.C.,
culminating in an
Advocacy Day on Capitol
Hill to send a powerful
message to Congress:
Americans stand with the
UN.
CAPITOL HILL

15. UN Opportunities and
Conferences
• Monthly opportunities: newsletter with
contests, conferences, virtual activities
• UN Conferences – serve as a Delegate
• Commission on the Status of
Women
• UN Oceans Conference
• Commission on Social Development
• ECOSOC Youth Forum
• WFUNA Human Rights Training in
Geneva
UC Berkeley student Mariya Katsman served as a UNA-
USA Delegate to the 63rd Commission on the Status of
Women at UN Headquarters in March.

16. Collaboration Possibilities and Benefits
Rotary Clubs can partner with a UNA chapter to:
• Co-sponsor conferences, programs, and outreach events in your
area
• Undertake advocacy work on behalf of UN conventions and issues
• Partner to collaborate on community projects or campaigns
Benefits:
• By involvement in UNA, Rotarians can help to meet Rotary goals to
build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better
world to support our peace efforts

17. 2) Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
• IEP is a leading, independent think tank that works to build a
greater understanding of the key drivers and measures of peace
and identify the economic benefits of increased peacefulness.
• Each year they produce the Global Peace Index, or GPI, which ranks
each country on their level of peacefulness, measures the global
economic & social cost of violence, and drivers of peace.
• This research provides a monitoring tool for governments,
intergovernmental organisations such as UN, and businesses.
• IEP has partnerships with the UN, and works with national
governments and the media to build peace.
• IEP has a partnership with Rotary

18. Why measure peace?
• The drivers of Peace are poorly understood - they are not
necessarily the opposite of the drivers of violence.
• Peace is multi-dimensional and complex
• Data helps identify whether peace is improving or
deteriorating.
• Importantly, understanding the measures of peace helps us to
foster greater peace.

19. What is Peace? Johan Galtung defined 2 concepts
Global Peace Index Positive Peace Index
Positive peace
refers to
attitudes,
institutions
and structures
that correlate
to lasting
peace, which
are necessary
for a peaceful
society.
Negative
peace is the
‘absence of
violence’ and
‘absence of
fear of
violence’,
referring to
the security
of states and
interpersonal
security

20. Global Peace Index
• Now in its 12th year
• Ranks 163 countries according to their relative states of
peacefulness
• Uses 23 indicators weighted on a 1-5 scale
• Its data is collected, collated, guided and overseen by a
panel of international experts
• It is a measure of negative peace, or the absence of
violence

21. Levels of peace March 2017-2018.

22. 10 Most & 10 Least Peaceful Countries
• Most Peaceful:
1) Iceland, 2) New Zealand, 3) Austria, 4) Portugal,
5) Denmark, 6) Canada, 7) Czech Republic, 8)
Singapore, 9) Japan, 10) Ireland
• Least Peaceful:
1) Syria, 2) Afghanistan, 3) South Sudan, 4) Iraq, 5)
Somalia, 6) Yemen, 7) Libya, 8) Congo, 9) Central
African Republic, 10) Russia.
• Guess where US ranks?

23. The US is #121 in the GPI
The US has deteriorated in
peacefulness for two consecutive
years, and is at the lowest level
of any time since 2012.
This deterioration has been
exacerbated by the growing
partisan nature of American
politics.

24. Where has the US scored both poorly and well?
US scored poorly:
• We are one of largest weapons exporters in the world,
particularly a major nuclear and heavy weapons exporter.
• The US has a very high incarceration rate.
• The US remains one of the countries with the largest number,
duration and role in external military conflicts.
US scored well:
• We had a 1 (out of 5) on each of the following: Violent crime,
deaths from internal conflict, internal conflicts fought, displaced
people, weapons import.

25. The global cost of violence in 2017
A 10% reduction is equivalent to the total
economies of Denmark, Switzerland, and
Belgium combined.

26. 8 key inter-related factors contributing to
Positive Peace

27. Benefits of Positive Peace
• Every 1% improvement in positive peace corresponds with
2.9% growth in real GDP per capita.
• High positive peace countries are more likely to maintain
stability, adapt and recover from shocks as they overcome
challenges, and recover more quickly from natural disasters.
• Positive peace is an innovative approach to measuring
societal resilience. Peace is measurable and it’s possible to
empirically track whether countries are improving.
• There is a strong link between positive peace, economic
prosperity and social wellbeing.

28. Rotary-IEP Partnership
Rotarians can:
• Participate in Positive Peace workshops
• Give presentations using Positive Peace presentation
and facilitator guides: Downloadable resources to help
Rotarians conduct in-person training and facilitate dialogue
to help foster community-based engagement in peace.
• Get involved in the Rotary Positive Peace Academy
• https://blog.rotary.org/2018/08/30/how-to-spread-positive-
peace/.
• www.visionofhumanity.org

29. 3) Importance of Citizen Diplomacy
• Citizen diplomacy grew during the Cold War in the 1980’s when
the Soviet Union and the US were expanding armaments and
citizens were concerned about the potential for war.
• The Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI), one of the leading
citizen diplomacy NGO’s, began taking groups of Americans to
the Soviet Union in the early to mid 1980’s to meet with citizens.
Thousands of Americans went there and came back to report
on their experiences.
• I was a citizen diplomat. My first trip was in 1986 and I led 4
trips to numerous cities in the S.U., Ukraine, Georgia, Dagestan
• Citizen diplomacy has had many positive results.

30. CCI Programs
CCI evolved in the late 1980’s from leading trips to providing a
range of skill building programs:
• Economic Development Program (partnered with Rotary)
• SMMA – 400 Soviets came to 240 American cities in 1988
• Introduced AA into Soviet Union
• Agricultural Program
• Environment Program
• Non Profit Management Program
• RISE – Micro-enterprise Program for women in St. Petersburg

31. “TheThreat of NuclearWar is StillWith Us”
Article by George Shultz,William Perry & Sam Nunn in Wall Street Journal, April 2019
• The US, its allies and Russia are caught in a dangerous policy
paralysis. A bold policy shift is needed to support a strategic re-
engagement with Russia and walk back from this perilous
precipice.
• The US and Russia must develop a new comprehensive
approach to decrease the risks of conflict and increase
cooperation, transparency, and security.
• It is essential that we re-engage with Russia in areas of
common fundamental interest to both nations, including
reducing reliance on nuclear weapons, keeping them out of
unstable hands, preventing their use and ultimately ending them
as a threat to the world.

32. RI’s InterCountry Committee
The Russia-US Intercountry Committee is focused on the 4th Rotary Object: ‘The
advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world
fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.’
The ICC plays an important role between the peoples of each country despite the political
atmosphere between governments. ICC projects and exchanges open dialogue between
the people of Russia and the US, and thus become a catalyst for building peace.

33. Russia-U.S. Intercountry Committee
In the 28 years of Rotary in Russia, including the 11 years of the US-Russia ICC,
over $1million in over 30 global and matching grants have been completed:
• $100 K given to a school for the underprivileged near Kirov called Beacon
Hope
• $310 K for an Immunization program for the children of Vladivostock
• Rotarian Bill Richardson helped organize $885K in Russian aid grants 1999 to
2015.
• This past February, the ICC coordinated a Peace Conference in Houston, Texas
• Of the more than 500 vocational delegations of Russian entrepreneurs invited
by CCI from 1995-2010, over 80% were hosted by Rotarians, many ICC
members.
• In a medical exchange last October, the Rotary Club of Boardman, Ohio,
supported a professional visit of ten Russian physicians visiting clinics in the
US.
• ICC offers many opportunities for engagement at this important time.
Application Forms.

34. Russian National Para-Olympic NordicTeam
ICC member, Greg Bartz put together a project serving youth with disabilities with
funding from the Eurasia Foundation. In 2012 there was an Open World Delegation of
special education professionals from Krasnoyarsk meeting in Minnesota, part of the
"Ordinary Childhood" Program with the U. of Minnesota.

35. DiplomaticTrip to Russia (Sep. 1-17, 2019)
https://ccisf.org

36. My new book includes 20 chapters highlighting:
Importance of speaking up and being engaged - each
voice matters
Bridge building, collaboration and citizen diplomacy
How we develop resilience to ride the ups and downs
The importance of mentoring
Valuing Diversity - Our similarities are greater than our
differences
www.kimweichel.org; www.ourvoicesmatter.org;
www.Xlibris.com

37. Thank you for your attention
and for your work and
commitment to build peace.