DISCURSOS - Rotary International
DISCURSOS - Rotary International
DISCURSOS - Rotary International
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Peace Through Knowledge<br />
Zewdineh Beyene Haile<br />
Former <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Fellow<br />
Distinguished participants of the 2013 <strong>International</strong> Assembly, it’s indeed a great honor and pleasure<br />
to stand before you and speak at this grand event. Please permit me to sincerely thank the<br />
organizers for having me here.<br />
It is appropriate to begin with a quick snapshot of my background and my association with <strong>Rotary</strong><br />
<strong>International</strong>. I am an Ethiopian, privileged to study in different countries, including the United<br />
States of America. It was the <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Fellowship program that brought me to the University<br />
of California, Berkeley, in 2002 as one of the first 70 <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Fellows.<br />
Please let me briefly walk you through my personal experience as a <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Fellow and<br />
how it changed my life.<br />
Before leaving the <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Center at UC-Berkeley, I was able to convince Berkeley professors<br />
and influential African diaspora representatives residing in the Bay Area to join me in the establishment<br />
of a not-for-profit organization that would contribute to the African continent through<br />
a sharing of knowledge and capacity-building in alternative dispute settlement and conflict resolution.<br />
The African Institute for Arbitration, Mediation, Conciliation and Research was created and<br />
began working in the <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Center at UC-Berkeley back in 2004.<br />
Returning to my home country of Ethiopia in 2005, I decided to establish a management consulting<br />
firm called Emahizee Global Consulting. It advises countries in transition on their peace-building<br />
and development efforts and strengthens their democratic bodies, such as human rights commissions,<br />
ombudsman offices, election commissions, parliaments, and justice-sector institutions<br />
including the judiciary, the prosecutors, prison administration, and the police.<br />
As part of my volunteer service, I advised the Ethiopian Elders Network, which brokered a historic<br />
and exemplary peace between the ruling party and opposition parties after a 2005 election<br />
dispute that resulted in much bloodshed. While the international community and donor agencies<br />
were not able to settle the dispute, which led to hundreds of civilians and politicians being imprisoned<br />
or killed, the Ethiopian Elders, made up of notable academics, members of the Ethiopian<br />
diaspora, religious leaders, and civil society organizations, persuaded the government and<br />
opposition leaders to settle their differences in a peaceful manner. I can boldly say that Rotarians,<br />
by investing in the <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Fellowship, indirectly participated in brokering this peace deal<br />
through the advisory role their peace fellow played.<br />
I must tell you, dearest Rotarians, your investment in the <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace Fellowship is not in vain.<br />
Peace fellows are contributing daily to global peace in the most diversified way. Some teach<br />
peace, others consult on peace, and many lead governmental and nongovernmental organizations<br />
that work for durable, lasting, and sustainable peace in our world. I teach conflict resolution<br />
courses, conduct workshops, and perform mediation, conciliation, and arbitration work across the<br />
African continent.<br />
Currently, I am working with dedicated volunteers on a new project to establish communitybased<br />
dispute resolution centers for religious institutions and public higher education institutions<br />
in Ethiopia. We have almost finalized production of manuals for tailor-made training at the centers.<br />
These achievements cannot be imagined without the knowledge I gained at the <strong>Rotary</strong> Peace<br />
Center at UC-Berkeley.<br />
30 <strong>International</strong> Assembly Speeches 2013