Resolving conflict, achieving peace in our world another major Rotary undertaking

Posted by Peter Roaf on May 05, 2020

Conflict and violence displace millions of people each year. 90 percent of those killed in conflicts are civilians and half of those are children. Often conflict starts and continues over long periods in competition for dwindling resources and as environmental changes force people to migrate.

Fergal McCarthy, the Peace Programs Manager at Rotary International in Chicago, spoke to Ladner Rotary members and District 5040 Peace leaders on May 5, 2020. Prior to his role at Rotary, Fergal worked at the Rand Corporation in California, the Irish Prime Minister’s Office in Dublin Ireland as well as the Irish Foreign Ministry. He holds a BA in World Religions & Theology and an MPhil in International Peace Studies both from Trinity College Dublin, an MA in Comparative Ethnic Conflict Studies from Queens University Belfast, and an MSt in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.

Fergal McCarthy

Rotary was instrumental in the founding of the United Nations. We are close to completing our 30-year-old campaign to rid the world of polio with our many partners. Now we have joined many organizations in peacebuilding. Our aim is to look beyond the temporary cessation of violence in many parts of the world. We need to identify over the longer term conditions that lead to conflict management and mutual cooperation among those who have previously been adversaries. Fergal provides some highlights of Rotary's Peace program in this video.