[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 790

[Garry D Krischock]

Message 
  1. 1498:  Kenyan peace fellow aspires to protect human security 
Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:56 am (PDT) 
Kenyan peace fellow aspires to protect human security
By Dan Nixon 

Joseph Hongo of Kenya has long envisioned "a new world order shaped 
not by military and political might but tolerance and mutual 
understanding, where issues of human security and development take 
center stage."

He says his Rotary World Peace Fellowship to study at the University 
of Queensland in Australia, beginning in February 2009, echoes that 
ideal. Moreover, he believes the fellowship, sponsored by the Rotary 
Club of Mombasa, Kenya, and District 9200 in East Africa, will help 
him achieve his career goal: "to play a lead role in bridging the 
policy gap between community and government, policymakers, and other 
actors in the promotion of human security and economic development."

Hongo's "modest background," as he calls it, has driven him to work 
hard. Though he is the ninth of 10 children, seven of his siblings 
died before he was born, and he suffered the loss of his father, a 
fisherman, and his mother at an early age. 

"I regarded myself a child of the community," he says, referring to 
his upbringing by different relatives. "[They] provided me with the 
opportunity to live in various parts of the country," instilling an 
appreciation of other languages and cultures.

In 2002, Hongo graduated with honors from Kenyatta University. The 
next year, as an intern with Kenya's National Assembly, he traveled 
to remote parts of the country, meeting with citizens and assessing 
the implementation of the nation's free primary education policy. He 
also helped analyze conflicts in rural communities and develop 
appropriate policies and mitigation measures.

As a program assistant with the Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on 
Peace since 2004, Hongo has participated in several peace-building 
initiatives, he says, including interethnic conflict in Rwanda and 
Burundi, resource-based conflict in the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, the small-arms problem in northern Kenya and southern Sudan, 
and displacement and refugee problems in northern Uganda, Kenya, 
Zambia, and Tanzania. His objective in each case has been to link the 
affected communities with policymakers to lessen conflict.

"One of my most memorable experiences was observing the peace 
negotiation between the government of Uganda and Lord's Resistance 
Army rebels in Juba, southern Sudan, in 2006," he says. "I held talks 
with the rebels, where I implored them to abandon war and realize the 
value of human security."

In February, Hongo traveled to assess the situation in Kenya's north 
Rift Valley, which was plagued by violence after the national 
elections in December.

Though many are hoping for a positive outcome from the mediation 
process led by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan, "Kenyans must take individual responsibility in promoting that 
peace and justice they are calling for," he says. "It may sometimes 
involve the sacrifice of certain interests, but eventually all 
Kenyans will enjoy the fruits of their hard work for generations to 
come." 

Source: Rotary International News
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

 
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