November 9th is Rotary Day at the United Nations, and Rotarian Action Group for Peace is celebrating by presenting a workshop at the Palais des Nations at the UN during Geneva Peace Week 2019.  On November 8th, RAGFP Executive Director, Reem Ghunaim presented her latest workshop called, “Activating Peace: How to Build Sustainable Peace within your Community” to UN officials, NGO representatives, diplomats, and many other global peacebuilders.

After her successful pilot workshop at the RI convention in Hamburg, Reem was invited to present an updated version at the Palace of the United Nations in Switzerland for this year’s Geneva Peace Week Conference. Geneva Peace Week is an annual conference that connects and highlights the work of global peace actors from government, NGOs, and businesses to collaborate and expand the space for peacebuilding. This conference instills that each and every person, actor, and institution has a role to play in building peace and strategizes peacebuilding from multiple angles.

On the final day of Geneva Peace Week 2019, Reem presented her RAGFP workshop inside le Palais des Nations to a large group of international peacebuilders. There, she revealed the RAGFP’s new workbook, “Activating Peace” which highlights the Institute of Economics and Peace’s research of the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace and ties them to real Rotary projects. The workbook breaks down the methods utilized from successful rotary projects into clear, step-by-step strategies that create successful, sustainable, multifaceted peace outcomes. The workshop allows participants to analyze the Positive Peace Pillars and Rotary peace projects, while also promoting a creative outlet for participants to collaborate and brainstorm their own peace project using the tools from the workshop. Participants left the presentation not only with insights on positive peacebuilding but also with new creative strategies to expand and develop their next successful community-based project.

Stay tuned in 2020 for more resources, workshops, and webinars featuring elements of Reem’s Geneva Peace Week workbook, “Activating Peace.”

By Anna DaSilva, Rotarian Action Group for Peace, November 2019.