How an ICC with ASEAN is Going Beyond Borders
We often celebrate youth as tomorrow’s leaders or our hope for a better tomorrow. Throughout the world, however, there are youth leaders making measurable impact in their communities right now.
In 2024, a Global Grant featuring an Intercountry Committee (ICC) partnership with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), explored that very question. What began as a vision by PDG Dato Bindi Rajasegaran, supported by Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI) as the Coordinating Partner, has expanded to successfully inspire youth leaders from all eleven ASEAN countries. This hybrid program, designed and facilitated by MBBI, was hosted by Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and included other partners such as the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFP).
Mediators Beyond Borders International, a Service Partner of Rotary (2018-24), has been collaborating with local partners to create global impact for almost twenty years. Their people centered and integrative approach focuses on supporting those in the heart of conflict with multi-disciplinary tools including traumain formed peace building. The Rotary ASEAN Youth Peacebuilder Program (RAYPP) is MBBI’s second Global Grant in the region. The first focused on training women mediators, who joined a global network of Women in Mediation.
Similarly, the ASEAN Youth Peacebuilders will join a network of community peacebuilders trained by MBBI around the world, including over 100 community mediators supported by another Global Grant in Southern Africa, which was created in partnership with the current President of the ICC Council, PDG Annemarie Mostert.
The Rotary ASEAN Peacebuilder’s Program is a hybrid training program featuring four distinct phases:
- In the first phase, applicants apply in partnership with a local Rotary Club and are individually interviewed to select the most active participants and to begin to welcome them into community.
- In the second phase, 60 finalists met weekly online for three months. They learned from a variety of instructors (including several Rotary Peace Fellows) and self-facilitate weekly, small group discussions. The purpose of this phase (in addition to building group cohesion) was to ensure content was delivered online so that valuable, in-person time was strictly experiential. The final 45 participants were selected based on attendance and participation.
- For the third phase, the cohort met for 12 days at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur. Here, they gain hands-on experience in subjects such as conflict transformation and mapping, cross-cultural competency, mental health awareness, the Pillars of Positive Peace, and worked in teams to develop their services together.
- In the final phase, the youth return to their communities to implement their projects while checking in monthly, including coaching by MBBI facilitators.
Current impact projects include leading online mediation training for youth in Myanmar, running education awareness initiatives in Cambodia, and addressing gender violence in Indonesia. The participants have even self-organized into their own alumni association. The success of the first cohort has inspired a second Global Grant to launch in Spring of 2027. The hope is that this program soon becomes a model for replication and fosters peace through connectivity throughout the region.
Rotary Izmir Dokuz Eylül
District 2440, Turkey - Past District Governor
Past Rotary Public Image Coordinator
Turkish Rotary Magazine board member
Active member of the WASH and SRoF fellowships
TRF CADRE
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