Rotary the Peacemaker

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Parry Sound
…for the week of August 10, 2009


Rotary – the Peacemaker

A skeptic might ask: “How can Rotary be a real force for peace? It has no jurisdictional power. It is not a religion. It has no army or tanks, and it insists on being non-political.”

Such a viewpoint looks at peace as something that can be ordered or militarily enforced, as if it is only the responsibility of governments.

Rotary has always approached peacemaking systemically – it has sought to break down the barriers that cause people to point fingers at one another. By trying to understand people’s points of view, and reaching across lines of race, religion, and culture to become partners in service to all mankind, tensions are reduced and friendships are increased. Humanitarian aid has been Rotary’s answer to hunger, sickness, illiteracy, and economic disaster, the seeds of conflict.

In April 1945, Rotary was in the forefront of arguably one of the most important meetings of the 20th century: the finalizing of the charter of the United Nations in San Francisco.

The UN Charter Conference was the ultimate meeting of world leaders. They gathered to establish how future international disputes would be resolved; governments sent only their highest-ranking ministers, their very brightest minds to San Francisco.

Rotary was invited to attend as one of the observer organizations. There being few UN staff at the time, these 23 Rotarian observers guided agendas, performed translations, suggested wording for resolutions, and helped resolve disputes between delegates. Rotary provided 11 official observers to the U.S. delegation alone – only one other organization had more than three.

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Source: Forward, David C. A Century of Service – The story of Rotary International.