VCWA Hosts Critical Conversations Around Peace
Tinotenda Charles Rutanhira (left) moderated a panel discussion on the UN’s 2022 topic: “End Racism, Build Peace” with Lise Grande (center) of the US Institute of Peace and JJ Greene, WTOP Radio’s Foreign Policy Correspondent
The Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA) recently welcomed community members, faculty, students, local business leaders, and visitors alike for a celebration of the International Day of Peace at Champlain College’s Hauke Family Center in Burlington, Vermont. The evening began with a rooftop address by Lise Grande on the state of U.S. global peace building. “America’s approach to peace-building is ambitious,” Grande said, adding: “it seeks to prevent conflict, to mitigate violence, avoid destruction, limit death, and to resolve conflict on terms that give countries the best chance of staying out of future war. The model promotes universal values which are put into actions by institutions that get things done.” Grande also reflected on the role that US leadership has in the world, and the importance of the institutions, values, and strategy that the US takes in instituting that.
After that, JJ Greene addressed the audience on the topic of racism in the context of peace-building, in line with the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace, “End Racism, Build Peace”. “Ending racism, and building peace,” Greene proclaimed, “is going to require sacrifice.” After Greene’s opening remarks, he was joined by Tinotenda Charles Rutanhira as a moderator and Lise Grande as a co-panelist for a discussion on the topic.
The evening concluded with the annual “VCWA Person-of-the-Year” award ceremony. The VCWA commemorated the work of Abraham Awolich, who was originally a refugee from South Sudan that settled in Burlington, VT, and went on to perform distinguished humanitarian, peace-building, development, and public service work as well as cofound the Sudd Institute which he is a part of. Abraham’s story and his tireless commitment to global peace building and peace-building in his home country have greatly inspired the VCWA, which honors and celebrates his work. Likewise, the audience was greatly moved during his presentation. The award ceremony also included speeches by Denise Johnson, former Vermont Supreme Court Justice, and Patricia Preston, President and CEO of the VCWA.
Left to Right: VCWA CEO and President, Patricia Preston; Lise Grande, President of the US Institute of Peace; Denise Johnson, Former Vermont Supreme Court Justice; Abraham Awolich, Cofounder of the Sudd Institute and VCWA’s 2022 “Person of the Year” recipient; JJ Greene, WTOP Foreign Policy Correspondent.
The VCWA also featured two virtual events throughout the day, including a Book Talk with Carla Koppell, Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Distinguished Fellow with Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace, and Security that was moderated by Ellen Yount of Management Systems International, and VCWA board member. Koppell discussed the findings of her book, showing how diversity, equity, and inclusion can sustain peace and build lasting conflict resolution. “To me, anything that talked about diversity, equity and inclusion needed to be framed as ‘voices that are marginalized to our detriment’,” Koppell remarked. “We are not leveraging all the voices that we could in peace talks,” she added, emphasizing the importance of bringing all parties to negotiations. “We need to start to think of peace-building as more than bringing together armed members of conflict.”
A second panel discussion took place, titled “Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs”, which connected the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion to international affairs. This panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Sherwood Smith of the University of Vermont, and featured Naz Subah and Hadeil Ali of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Ali outlined four cases for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in International Affairs:
1. “The first case is that DEI is a National Security Issue”
2. “The second case is that DEI is a moral and ethical responsibility”
3. “The third case is the business case”
4. “The fourth case is institutional credibility”
Ali stated “Our strategic plan builds on all of those cases.” Subah explained the difficulties of implementing DEI strategies for management teams, adding that “changing culture is long, hard work, and DEI is changing culture”.
These events, and others, have been recorded and VCWA members and community members are encouraged to reach out to marya@vcwa.org if they wish to access the event recording. Information about future events at VCWA can be found at https://www.vcwa.org/upcoming-events.
