Conference theme
Bridging Divides, Building Peace
Rotary’s global peace focus: societies can only move forward by confronting and healing their past.
Day 1 — memorial visits and the panel Rebuilding the Human Fabric; the Day 2 keynote by the President of Rotary International.
A shared future that depends on how societies treat mobility, belonging and the outsider — from Africa’s quest for integration to migration debates worldwide.
Day 2 — Panel 1, A World in Motion, Divided Societies.
Rebuilding trust across identity, generational, economic and digital fault lines.
Day 2 — Panel 3, The Battle for Trust in a Digital Age.
Investing in those who build peace on the ground, and in development that includes everyone.
Day 2 — Panel 2, Investing in Peace, and the presentation of the Rotary Alliance for Inclusive Peace and Development.
Three essential questions
Can a society truly heal without confronting its past? How do societies rebuild after violence that has destroyed human bonds, institutions and trust?
Are we building a more connected world, or a more divided one? As economic, digital and human borders become more porous, why do identity, political and social divisions seem to be deepening?
Can there be sustainable peace without inclusive development? Can peace last if the benefits of development, dignity and opportunity are not shared?
Proposed overall theme: “One World, One Future: Bridging Divides, Building Peace.” The theme connects:
Rotary’s peace focus, “Healing in a Divided World”;
the 2026–27 presidential message, “Create Lasting Impact”;
Rwanda’s story of remembrance, reconciliation and national healing;
a forward-looking global vision of unity and shared prosperity.
“One World, One Future, Bridging Divides, Building Peace” translates the 2026–27 Presidential Message, Healing in a Divided World, into an agenda for action on the continent and across the world.
Three essential questions link the two days and give substance to the theme, so that reconciliation, migration, technology and development are not treated as separate topics.
