“Rotary has a vital role in advancing the cause of peace” – those were the words of Rotary International President, Gordon McInally, at the Presidential Peace Conference in London last month.

McInally was one of the keynote speakers at the day-long event staged at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation on the banks of the River Thames.

More than 650 Rotarians drawn from 50 countries, including Ukraine, listened to a dozen speakers reflecting on the theme of promoting and strengthening positive peace to create hope in the world.

In a wide-ranging speech, the Scotland-based RI President reflected on his experience working with the charity Hope and Homes for Children, which supports orphaned children in Rwanda following the 1994 civil war.

He spoke about a woman called Mary who was seven-years-old when the civil war broke out, was orphaned and left to look after her siblings. She was accepted onto Rotary’s Africa Hope programme, a joint initiative between Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland and the Rwandan charity when Mary and her siblings were supported to survive and grow.

This allowed Mary to complete her High School education, before going on to work as a teaching assistant at a primary school and serving as vice-president of a housing co-operative in the district where she lived.

With the financial support of a young Scottish lawyer, Mary later graduated with ​a degree in business studies at university in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. “This was ​one empowered woman unlocking the power of another,” pointed out McInally.

“Mary’s life was turned around, and where once she had nothing, now she had ​the greatest thing anyone could ask for: hope. Hope of a future free from ​poverty, hope of a future free from conflict, hope of a future where she is ​providing for herself and others, living outside of any dependency culture. Mary ​has not only become self-reliant, but she also has respect.

“As long as we continue to experience transformative stories like these, then we ​need to keep sharing them because feeling the imperative for peace compels us ​all to act on it.”

Among the speakers at the Rotary Peace Conference was Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the ​former Defence and Foreign Secretary. He reflected on the conflicts in Ukraine ​and Gaza, and current tensions in Taiwan. “The way in which you advance the ​cause of peace depends very much on the methods you use,” he said.

“Because when these dramas arise, when these controversies erupt, when wars ​are threatened, ultimately there are only two ways of resolving them.

“One is a military way, and you deal with it with war. The other is by deploying ​diplomatic negotiations. And if diplomacy is to succeed, it will ultimately require ​compromise.

“Compromises are such that they protect the fundamental interests you are ​trying to serve. You do not compromise by giving in to the aggressor.

“We are living at a time which is pretty unique and unprecedented.”

In his address, Gordon McInally insisted that Rotary International, with its 1.4 ​million members worldwide was in a perfect position to be peacemakers.

“I believe that Rotary has a vital role to play in advancing the cause of peace, and ​I often say that Rotary needs to work towards peace as aggressively as do those ​who wish to wage war.”

McInally is the only sixth Briton to head Rotary International in its 119-year ​history. He hoped the peace conference would be used as a “launching pad for ​action”.

He added: “It’s vital that we do far more than just simply talk about peace. That ​isn’t to demean the importance of talk. In fact, sometimes the very first step in ​creating peace is to be willing to talk to one another.

“The way we talk about peace and the way we model peace-positive behaviour is ​vital to the kinds of action which we care capable of taking and the impact we can ​ultimately deliver.”