NewGen Peacebuilders taking its Peace Education to Beirut, Lebanon

NewGen Peacebuilders (NGP) is a peace education and mentoring program for high school and university students. NGP is endorsed by the Rotary Action Group for Peace and is gaining momentum beyond eight USA-based and two International Rotary Districts in South America. We are seeking partners to introduce NGP to Beirut Lebanon, including a “train the Trainer” component to sustain the program. This will be the first time a Rotary Foundation Global Grant has funded peace education and mentoring in Lebanon.

Led by Rotary Peace Fellow Patricia Shafer, the program incorporates best practices in youth leadership, conflict transformation and peacebuilding featuring Team Action Peace Projects.

Peace Projects address core issues such as education inequality, poverty, environmental challenges, and refugee inclusion. NGP content reflects global issues and opportunities while adapting to local language, culture and circumstance.

Participants earn the NewGen Peacebuilder Certificate and gain hands-on experience in peace-centered problem-solving.

A recent graduate said “College history classes focus on preventing war, and that has its place, but I love the NewGen focus on promoting peace.”  Graduates align well towards Rotaract, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships and Rotary Peace Fellowships along their path of diplomacy and world understanding.

In 2017-18, NGP was introduced in D4920-Central Argentina, funded by a Global Grant sponsored by D5130-Northern California and the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa. The program introduced NGP in three locations near Buenos Aires.

The “train the Trainer” element will expand NGP into 12 Argentinean cities. The locally equipped NGP Facilitators are supported by passionate Rotarians, NGP staff, and a proprietary on-line training tool.  The Santa Rosa Club also introduced NGP into local community secondary schools creating opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue with Argentina participants.

Also during 2017, D7570 (Virginia/Tennessee) introduced NGP with a cohort from six universities within its district. District leadership has since expanded NGP into secondary schools.

Based on solid relationships with Rotarians in Beirut Lebanon, D7570 and D2452 (Lebanon and eight other Mid-East Countries) agreed at the 2017 International Convention to introduce NGP to a university level cohort in Beirut, building on the Global Grant model established in Argentina. The Host Partner is the Beirut Cosmopolitan Club and International Partner is D7570. After keynoting the 2018 Presidential Peacebuilding Conference in Beirut, Patricia Shafer gathered local citizens’ direct experiences from conflicts in Lebanon and Syria as the basis for the grant Community Needs Assessment.

We are seeking District & Club level Global Grant Supporters. The total Beirut Lebanon project budget is $97,000. We have $65,000 committed. Supporters will be invited to observe and participate in the Beirut Lebanon project and further understand the opportunity of the NGP program within their Communities, Districts and beyond. NGP Beirut will occur in Calendar Year 2019.

Eighty students from multiple universities and diverse religious and socio-economic backgrounds will be selected to participate in NGP Beirut.  Thirty project mentors, including Rotarians and Rotaractors, will bring passion and service experience.

Together, they will achieve a high level of community engagement in a 21^st-century approach to peacebuilding.

The project includes three phases: (1) On-site and virtual training leading to Team Action Peace Projects; (2) Teams form across diverse backgrounds, select and implement Team Action Peace Projects based on shared passions. Teams share results with the broader community in understanding the role of Rotary in global peacebuilding; (3) “train the Trainer” to certify Local NGP Facilitators.

Please join our “Peace Train” – next stop Beirut Lebanon!

Additional Information

• Follow NewGen on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NGPpeace/
• Follow NewGen on twitter @NewGen_Peace
• NGP Team Action Peace Projects video case studies: tinyurl.com/peaceprojects
• D7570’s experience with NGP: https://rotarianrichardray.com/2018/06/08/stumbling-across-a-movement-NGP-peacebuilders-empowers-young-adults/
• Santa Rosa Club experience with NGP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G090Y81T3o

Contact

• Richard Ray, District 7570 Governor 2017-18. RRay@TriaFin.com.  423.426.3449

Thank You for Supporting NewGen Peacebuilders!