NewGen Peacebuilders Colombia 2018
NewGen Peacebuilders Colombia 2018 is a great example of how RAGFP collaborates with other peace organizations to provide support and funding for Rotarian peacebuilding projects. NewGen Peacebuilders is an organization co-founded by Rotary Peace Fellow Patricia Schafer. The NewGen Peacebuilders Colombia 2018 project is championed by RAGFP Board Member Dr. Amparo Buendia, as a way of honoring the 50th year of Rotractors. It recognizes the success of NewGen Peacebuilders peace education in Argentina in 2017, and seeks to spread this model into Colombia and Latin America. This Rotary peace project will enhance peace education for young people and employ the NewGen Peacebuilders model in the region.
The program will train 50 Rotaractors in the “head, heart and hands” best practices of peacebuilding, including tools such as the Global Peace Index and Conflict Analyses, and implementation in 2018 of a significant peace project by Rotaractors who will be equipped to also define and lead other peace projects with at-risk students in Colombia.
The program includes:
– Five days of in-person Immersion Workshops with all materials in English and Spanish.
– Four virtual Zoom meetings with peacebuilder role models.
– Mentoring by Rotarians of an impactful peace project involving the 50 participating Rotaractors.
– One reflection day including a public YOUnited Celebration for Rotarians and civic leaders.
– Access to the online NewGen Peacebuilders Operating Platform (NGPOP) including materials and project management tools – in English and Spanish.
– A Final report, printed case study, and accompanying video of program of peace project results.
Graduates of NewGen Peacebuilders–Bolivia (2013) produced a high-profile conference on the role of youth in peacebuilding.
This important project seeks to provide peace education and foster peace initiatives, in a region that is recovering from 50-years of conflict. This collaboration between RAGFP, Rotarians and NewGen Peacebuilders, demonstrates a collective effort to build lasting peace, especially by mentoring the nation’s youth.
“This program is recognized by the RAGFP and has relationships with important Rotary peace partners. NewGen is delivered in multiple countries including the US and Argentina, and pilots in Bolivia,” says Dr. Buendia. “This is excellent timing because of the anniversary year of the Rotaractors and the energy for the Business Peace Symposium in Colombia: Dialogue, Decisions and Cooperation.”