By Janet Ekstract, ISTANBUL – Istanbul was the backdrop for Rotary International’s 2025 Peace Conference with the theme Healing in a Divided World that met February 20-22, gathering Rotary Club members from a multitude of countries with the agenda focusing on four primary issues: Peace In A Polarized World, Technology, Media and Peacebuilding – From Conflict to Connection, Sustainable Development: Environmental Issues In Peacebuilding and How To Create Peace That is Enduring and Lasting. Rotary International’s current President, Stephanie Urchick who led the conference, said Istanbul is the perfect venue to host this conference, as she expressed: “It’s a city that epitomizes the beauty of cultural connections and humanity.” She added: “This location is a hub for education, dialogue and forward thinking that could not be more fitting as a symbol of unity.” As Safak Alpay, 2025 Presidential Peace Conference planning committee chair and member of the Rotary Club Istanbul-Sisli explained, “The conference presents a unique and valuable opportunity where participants will gain practical guidance and fresh perspectives on implementing peacebuilding strategies in their regions and beyond.”
This year’s conference is unique Urchick pointed out, because it celebrates Rotary International’s 7th global peace center. The Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center for Middle East and North Africa at Bahcesehir University (BAU) Future of the World campus, that focuses on projects specifically for the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). The peace center whose launch was February 8, 2024, received $15.5 million from the Otto and Fran Walter Foundation to support Rotary International Peace Fellowships as well as a plethora of peace projects within the Middle East and North African region. As BAU Rector, Dr. Prof. Esra Hatipoglu explained, the purpose of the BAU Peace Center is that, “It’s vital in ensuring that we do not just speak about peace but take concrete steps in attaining it.” Urchick lauded the center, calling it “A bridge to the world,” – commenting that what makes Rotary International stand out, is its guiding principle to take no stance on political or religious issues. The whole purpose of the organization, Urchick said is “humanitarian service and peacebuilding through making connections in every corner of the world.” Rotary International sees peace centers across the globe as vital, Urchick explained, “The board of trustees is trying to represent all parts of the world with peace centers.” Other current peace centers include Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Duke University/University of North Carolina, University of Bradford in England, International Christian University in Japan, University of Queensland in Australia and Makerere University in Uganda. Each peace center has “tailor-made curricula” for training people committed to peacebuilding and conflict resolution and provides peace fellow scholarships.
The Istanbul peace conference, in addition to its distinguished speakers, provided special sessions where Rotarians had an opportunity to participate in a series of peace dialogue exercises. It is those types of dialogues that Urchick said create lasting international friendships that lead to the “magic” of Rotary. That “magic,” she said, is in the connections that are made in all types of circumstances across the globe and in all types of situations. Urchick recounted her own experience in the Dominican Republic when she showed a family how to create potable water with a new water filter. After her demonstration, she said the family’s little boy with wonder and glee, asked her to show him the “magic” again. It was at that moment, that Stephanie Urchick said she realized what an impact Rotary has in just one simple act. The overarching philosophy is ‘where there is a need, Rotary will meet it.’ The recent polio outbreak in Gaza is a prime example of a dire need that $500,000 in funding from the Rotary Foundation provided to eradicate it. As Urchick highlighted, Rotary was originally founded on the principle that doing good shouldn’t draw attention to itself. Though, she readily admits that Rotary International’s projects deserve to be recognized because of the widespread humanitarian outreach and outstanding accomplishments of all the international Rotarians.
Rotary International’s peace conference was also an opportunity to acknowledge and showcase how Rotarians across the globe have been able to make what looks impossible be possible. As Alpay explained, when the Turkish Rotary clubs heard there was a need for medical equipment to examine 650 pregnant women in Diyarbakir, when there was no hospital or clinic – Rotary stepped in. Alpay related how they partnered with a local Ankara company that creates mobile hospitals around the world. That company got a mobile hospital up and running in the shortest time, with the newest ultrasound technology and after hearing of such a special predicament, the company donated the mobile hospital.
It’s the quiet and unassuming way that Rotary International operates, that makes what they do that more significant and astounding on so many levels. It was the Turkish and German Rotary clubs that partnered to assist so many victims of the devastating earthquake in eastern Turkiye after February 6, 2023. That included providing container cities, mobile learning units for students, mobile kitchens for meals, personal hygiene products, blankets and beds. The most touching was support from Germany’s Rotary Club to support 131 children who lost limbs by setting up a special treatment center at Adana University, centrally located so all children in the region could access it. There were container areas set up for young children to receive the necessary physical therapy. What makes this extraordinary is that each child receives all the treatment and care they need through their 22nd birthdays.
Rotary’s International President Stephanie Urchick reiterated that what makes Rotarians special is their diversity and that’s what brings people together to contribute and learn from one another. That’s precisely what made the 2025 peace conference truly unique, the mix of Rotarians who came from all corners of the globe to meet in Istanbul. A grand combination of souls from all walks of life, the diversity that is Rotary: A successful single mother of four from Pakistan, working for an NGO, who raised her children alone; a stylish, creative businessman from the Netherlands, a Ukrainian businesswoman and a woman entrepreneur from Belarus, both sensitive and kind. Then there was the American contingent, a wonderful mix of the older and younger set, excited to be at the conference. Not to forget the plethora of Chinese-Americans and the two Chinese women from Hong Kong, one of them a journalist. A young peace fellow from Colombia, a lovely married couple from Morocco and of course, Turks from the U.S. and Turkiye among many others. They all had one thing in common, their passion for Rotary International’s mission: humanitarian service. As Urchick told participants, her goal for the 2025 Rotary International peace conference was that everyone take away “the feeling of hope that peace is possible and that it starts with each one of us.
