Rotary Peace Fellowships: training peace and development leaders

By Christine Torres, Senior Marketing and Recruitment Strategist, Rotary Peace Centers

*Rotary Peace Fellows earn a Master of Peace and Conflict Studies through the Rotary Peace Center at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.*

Promote peace in the world by encouraging peace and development leaders in our communities to apply for the Rotary Peace Fellowship.

Each year, Rotary awards fully funded fellowships for peacebuilders from diverse backgrounds to study at one of the Rotary Peace Centers located at premier universities around the world.

Rotary Peace Fellows use their fellowship knowledge and training in disciplines related to peace and development to amplify their work at the local, regional, or global level. Through academic training, practice, and global networking opportunities, our fellows become effective catalysts for peace. Clubs and districts are encouraged to partner with Fellows on peacebuilding initiatives before, during, and after their fellowships.

The Rotary Peace Center at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, offers fellows from Africa or who work with African communities a Postgraduate Diploma in Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation and Development.

Rotary and Rotaract members play a key role in recruiting peace fellowship candidates. You can help promote the program:

Share the peace fellowship website, which contains details about the fellowship programs and partner universities.
Forward the fellowship announcement to your contacts and include it in club and district communications.
Use our referral form to tell us about potential candidates so we can contact them.
Share a PowerPoint presentation about the fellowships with your club members and community.
Take the All About the Rotary Peace Fellowship course to learn about the qualification criteria, eligibility restrictions, the application process, and more. Follow the Rotary Peace Centers Facebook page and share our posts.

Thanks to generous support from donors and the dedicated participation of Rotary members, the peace fellowship program now has more than 1,600 Rotary Peace Fellows working to make positive change in over 140 countries. Our Fellows are leading peacebuilding efforts worldwide and staying connected to Rotary in various ways:

Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska from Poland promotes human rights education through music, arts, and sports, and also coordinates the Rotarian Peace Projects Incubator, which connects Rotary members with peace fellows to support peacebuilding projects around the world.
Paul Mushaho in Uganda works to improve opportunities for the community at the Nakivale refugee settlement and helped establish the camp’s first Rotaract club. He is also part of the Rotary Action Group for Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Migration.
Maiden Manzanal-Frank is a global impact advisor based in Canada and consults with Rotary clubs and organizations on how to work with communities in ways that create hope and lasting change.
Terrance Stevenson became a member of the Rotary Club of Seattle International District, USA, and founded PeaceAtlas after his fellowship to help businesses grow responsibly and create positive social impact. He is also active in an organization that supports the service partnership between Rotary and the U.S. Peace Corps.

To learn more about how you can recruit the next generation of peace fellows, contact your district Rotary Peace Fellowship subcommittee chair or write to rotarypeacecenters@rotary.org. The application for our 2024 fellowships is available online through 15 May 2023.