GPC-3: Peace Challenges: Climate Crisis and Human Rights
This interactive session organized by Rotary Peace Fellows and Peace Activators explores peace challenges in Africa and Europe, including complexities surrounding climate change, human rights, human security, and historical injustice. The session includes high-level overviews from topical experts followed by in-depth discussion in break-out rooms.
Speakers:
Lynn Wilson’s interdisciplinary career in environmental change and its impact on vulnerable communities is anchored in a PhD from Union Institute and University in ocean environmental policy from which she founded the global research and education NGO, SeaTrust Institute. As Executive Director, Lynn has led UNFCCC, UNCSD and other global delegations since 2007, served as reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR5 and AR6, and as author and lecturer on climate change adaptation issues while leading capacity development field projects in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific Islands. Her research on climate change resilience and disaster risk, environmental science for public policy, ocean health/human health, and the integration of knowledge across disciplines through purposeful collaboration informs current SeaTrust Institute activities including the development of a climate change pathways curriculum for innovative local resilience design AWARE (Action Within a Resilient Environment), and the collaborative environmental resilience network SeaTrust Lighthouse, university service on doctoral committees in global environmental policy, and in service as Rotarian with D1070 Kimbolton Castle, UK, and as Environment Cadre advisor for Rotary International. Lynn’s home waters surround the coastal community of Port Townsend, Washington State, USA.
Joseph Omondi is the executive director of the Midrift Human Rights Network ('Hurinet') in Nakuru, Kenya. He has many years of practice in human rights advocacy, peace building and conflict transformation, promotion of good governance and democracy and offering civic education on the Kenyan constitution with emphasis on the culture of constitutionalism. He has consulted for the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights on matters transitional justice, and on the accountability and transparency of public officials and institutions. He has also worked with the Parliamentary Service Commission, the office of the Senate as the Devolution advisor to the Senator of Nakuru County. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies and a Diploma in Human Resource.
Linda Kasonde is a legal practitioner based in Lusaka, Zambia. Ms. Kasonde was admitted to the Zambian Bar in 2001. In 2016 she became the first woman to be elected President of the Bar Association in Zambia. In February 2023, she was re-elected as Vice-President for Africa of the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association. She is now the Executive director of a Zambian NGO called Chapter One Foundation limited and the founder of the law firm LCK Chambers. Ms. Kasonde is a 2017 recipient of the IE University’s Extraordinary People Inspiring the IE Community (EPIC) Award in the ‘Women Inspiring Women’ category. In December 2016, the prestigious The Africa Report named her as one of the people to watch out for in 2017 in Southern Africa. Also, in December 2016, she was awarded the Zambia Society for Public Administration’s Justice Irene Chirwa Mambilima Distinguished Award in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of public service excellence in Zambia.
Mandiedza Parichi (Ph.D.) is a Zimbabwean national currently working as Gender equality and Social Inclusion Post-Doctoral fellow at Namibia University of Science and Technology in Windhoek (Namibia). She holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies (area of Gender and Media). She also holds an M.Sc. Gender and Policy Studies and another M.Sc. in Peace, Leadership and Conflict Resolution Degree. Dr. Parichi also holds an M.Sc. in Media She is a qualified and experienced communication expert, peace-builder and gender specialist who has experience in providing technical support and management of conflict prevention and development programs. Her strengths also include strengthening organizational capacities in innovative programming, building and strengthening capacities in results based programmes and research. She has worked as a facilitator, trainer, researcher and lecturer on issues of social inclusion, gender, media, social change, development and conflict transformation. She is deeply committed to achieve social change through peaceful means by engaging all stakeholders particularly minority groups, and grassroots organizations through her research and practice.
Break-out Room Featured Speaker:
Pranav Khanna is the director of strategic initiatives at LOA Labs, which holds that blockchain technology and decentralized systems could prove to be one of the most promising tools for social and environmental change. He is a communications professional and crypto community builder who is passionate about the potential of blockchain to make the world a better place. He works with blockchain pioneers to create real community chemistry, providing marketing and technical support for technologies that make a positive impact on culture and climate.
Moderators:
Sellah King’oro is a Rotary Peace Fellow (Chulalongkorn University), peace and conflict analyst, mediator and gender expert who has contributed to reconciliation/dialogue processes among communities in parts of East and West Africa. Currently, she is a Senior Gender Advisor with the British Peace Support Team Africa. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in Kenya where she worked for over eleven years. Prior to her appointment at NCIC, she was a researcher at Development Policy Management Forum, a Programme Officer at Peace and Development Network and a chairperson of the Conflict Analysis Group at the National Steering Committee of Peace Building and Conflict Management in the office of the president (Kenya). Sellah holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from Kisii University and two post graduate diplomas from Bradford University, UK and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
Joel Weaver is a Rotarian and Rotary Peace Activator. He holds a PhD from Walden University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. His specialty area concerns global governance and how international nongovernmental organizations (INGO) are increasingly filling governance gaps left by governmental organizations and nation states. He currently works in the United Kingdom as a defense contractor supporting United States European Command.
Discussion Facilitators:
Moses Chavene is a Rotary Peace Fellow (2015, Chulalongkorn University) and program officer at the Midrift Hurinet Human Rights Network in Nakuru, Kenya. He works on intersectoral urban violence prevention.
Master Dicks Mfune is a Rotary Peace Fellow (Chulalongkorn University) and a peace cultivator who wants to contribute towards sustainable peace and development of nations. He is a lecturer at the University of Malawi and in addition he conducts training, consultancy and research in the areas of peace studies, conflict management, capacity building, human resource development, and strategic planning. He is a graduate of Bocconi University (Italy).
Maciej Witek is a Tokyo International University graduate with an MA in International Relations, a former diplomatic trainee at the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, and language support at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He is currently based in Poland, where on top of attending the European Academy of Diplomacy, he serves as a director of the Polish branch of the Japan-Poland Youth Association, and the founder of Global Society – an NGO promoting intercultural communication. Maciej is currently working as a Communication Officer at the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan (GPAJ) and Kyoto Peacebuilding Center (KPC). He has recently been selected as a 2023-2025 Rotary Peace Fellow.
Bhawna Solanki is currently a Rotary Peace Fellow pursuing MSc Sustainable Development at University of Bradford, UK. Previously, she has pursued MBA in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Management in India. She is a CSR and Sustainability professional and has spent 13 years in the development sector playing various roles in NGOs (International Resources for Fairer Trade, Door Step School), MNC (CG Power & Industrial Solutions) and a Business School (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies). As a facilitator, capacity building expert, consultant and researcher she has worked for safeguarding labour rights in supply chain, focused on community initiatives to promote social equity and undertook research in the area. While at Bradford, she is exploring the linkages between sustainability and peace building.
Wale Adeboye is a Rotary Peace Fellow (2019, Chulalongkorn University) the founder and Head of Programs, Research and Partnerships West Africa Responsibility to Protect Coalition (WAC-R2P), an independent multi-disciplinary research and cooperation think tank on human security. Adeboye has previously worked as a journalist, policy analyst, project coordinator, and researcher for the US Department of Defence, Rotary International, Budapest Center for Atrocity Prevention, and others. During the last 15 years, ‘Wale has worked on atrocity crime prevention, conflict mediation, and early childhood literacy empowerment in Africa. Among his current engagements, he is secretary and anglophone West Africa focal person for the Global Action Against Mass Atrocities (GAMAAC). Additionally, he is a member of the UN/UNESCO Advisory Group on genocide education in Africa, which aims to strengthen the educational capacity of African educators so they can educate people about genocide and prevent atrocity crimes in their own countries. In addition to being an expert on mass atrocity crimes prevention and intervention, Wale is a certified negotiator, a mediator, and a blended learning tutor. He specializes in assessing the risks associated with transnational security threats and hate crimes prevention. In addition to conducting gender analyses and managing local, community, and national projects, he has also taught at universities in Nigeria, Uganda, and the United States. He received a PhD from Nigeria's prestigious University of Ibadan.
Ignatius Emeka Onyekwere is a Rotary Peace Fellow (University of Brandford) with over 20 years of working experience with civil society organizations (WANEP/WACSOF), regional economic communities (ECOWAS), international development agency (USAID) in the areas of human security early warning and response, Peacebuilding and conflict prevention programmes. He is a chartered mediator and a researcher on security sector reform with experience on strategic planning for security and development within West Africa and the lake Chad Basin. He is currently a Senior Consultant with the Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS)- Impact Netherlands. Also, he is a Consultant with African Development Bank and the United States Institute for Peace. Prior to these roles, he was the Early Warning Advisor at Fund for Peace for the USAID West Africa- Reacting to Early Warning and Response Data (REWARD) project support to ECOWAS. In addition, Ignatius was the Conflict Sensitivity Advisor at the Global Affair Canada-Field support Services Project Nigeria. Ignatius holds a PhD in Peace Studies, Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution and a Postgraduate Diploma in Research Methods for Social Science- all from the University of Bradford, UK. Besides, he holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemistry from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria. He is a Rotary Peace fellow Alumnus (2007-08) and Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Ambassador.
Gibson Zulu is a Zambian and 2022-24 Rotary Peace Fellow studying Global Studies with a concentration on Peace and Conflict Resolution at the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center. He has 9 years of work experience in refugee protection, solutions and coordination from Zambia, Liberia and Ethiopia. His last assignment was as Head of Field Unit in the Sherkole Refugee camp in Ethiopia for the United Nations Refugee Agency. Before that, he was an Associate Field/Durable Solutions Officer in Zwedru/Harper in Liberia after concluding missions as Durable Solutions Associate and Resettlement Assistant in Solwezi and Mongu/Kaoma with UNHCR. Gibson joined UNHCR in 2011 as a resettlement intern. He holds a BA in History from the University of Zambia where he won the best academic performing student award twice and the most improved athlete award in 2009. In 2013, he won $13,500 through a global resource mobilization competition that got 50 refugee dropout kids back into high school. In 2021, he bagged a UN Regional Bureau award for innovative efforts in saving 5000 refugees during the debut of COVID-19. He evaluated the Multi-Year, Multi-Partner Protection and Solutions Strategy Frameworks for Zambia and Liberia respectively. Resettling the most vulnerable refugees from indigence in refugee camps to mature economy countries where they lead meaningful lives without the need for international protection has been the most fulfilling aspect of his career.
Eva Czermak, MD, E.MA. is a trained physician, has a Master’s degree in Human Rights and is a Rotary Peace Fellow besides being a trained mediator and polyglot. Currently she works for Caritas Austria for humanitarian aid projects in Ukraine and additionally two projects in Burundi (a medical project and a project about sanitary pads) with a partner which is a religious order for reconciliation. Until 2021 Eva Czermak has gathered extensive experience in the socio-medical field in Austria, where she worked almost 20 years (9 of which as manager of an NGO) with marginalized groups, providing healthcare to homeless people, poverty migrants, refugees, people with mental health and substance abuse problems. She is very experienced with the various life problems and also language and integration challenges of these target groups and has contributed substantially to the diversity policy for hospitals in Austria. Other experiences include participation in dialogue projects in the US, international experience in the development and humanitarian fields, election observation, and provision of trainings in the medical, communication and human rights fields.
Florence Maher (Rotary Peace Fellow, 2018-2020 International Christian University) is a social scientist, international civil servant, and former diplomat. She helps governments and technical experts build multistakeholder coalitions to develop data-driven international policy. She is currently working at the OECD on the human aspects of nuclear technology, including gender, leadership, and diversity. As a previous U.S. government official, she worked on integrating research-backed social science methodology on conflict into U.S. foreign policy; international cooperation on cybersecurity policy, anti-terrorist financing, sanctions, export controls, and nuclear nonproliferation; and consular affairs. She received a master's degree in public policy and social research with a specialty in peace studies from International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan. In addition, she holds bachelor's degrees in economics and political science from Howard University in Washington, DC (USA).
2023 GLOBAL PEACE CONFERENCE (GPC-3): Over 24 hours of peace talks, skills-based workshops and networking
Do you care deeply about your community and looking for ideas to bring about positive change?
Join us on 4 March 2023 for the third 24-hour online Global Peace Conference: an exciting, interactive convergence of thought-provokers, peacebuilders and everyday people building peace in their spheres of influence.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL AGENDA
The theme of this year’s conference is “Strengthening Our Peacebuilding Community”. This theme is an extension of our desire to connect our planet with people power, towards a peaceful and just existence for all. This year’s 24-hour conference has programming in four global geographical regions, with plenaries and skill-building sessions, covering all time zones across the globe and enabling anyone, anywhere, to participate.
This volunteer-led initiative of Rotary Peace Fellows and other members of the broader Rotary peace ecosystem is based on the premise that everyone has the power to change the world. We work in civil society, academia, and government. We work in conflict resolution, sustainable development, and business. We are change makers in our community wherever we are based across the globe, and have a passion to transform conflict into growth and potential.
This 24-hour Global Peace Conference is not a typical academic conference or business networking opportunity. Our value is in dialogue and in collaboration, so everyone—YOU included—has a part to play in making our conference meaningful.
The event will feature:
Local peacebuilders from all over the world
Interactive sessions at all time zones
Ample opportunity for training and networking
Join us by registering above! The conference is free of charge thanks to the generosity of volunteers and donors from the Rotary peace community, including Carol Fellows and Tim Bewley. The Red Dot Foundation also provided technical support to realize this session.
If you would like to make a donation to help keep future conferences free and inclusive, please click here. Thank you for your support!
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS AFTER THE CONFERENCE?
During the inclusive, open planning meetings to prepare for the conference, it was decided to develop a conference declaration setting out positive peace as a unifying concept to unite Rotary Peace Fellows, other peacebuilders, and the Rotary family. The goal is also to articulate a vision for the conference as a vehicle to strengthen the Rotary peace ecosystem and to build relationships with and elevate grassroots peaceubilders. Please provide feedback on the draft conference declaration:
COMMENT ON THE DRAFT HERE
Thank you for your constructive input!