ROTARY Club of Northwich Vale Royal’s guest speaker on July 6 was Rotarian Dr Ghazala Chapman, a member of Warrington Rotary Club, who previously held the position of Rotary District 1090 Peace Fellowship Co-Ordinator, as well as being president in 2014 of the Rotary Club of Reading.

A club spokesman said: “Dr Chapman was born in Afghanistan, and has spent much of her life travelling to countries where there has been conflict.

"She gave an interesting insight into the work and studies of Rotary Peace Scholars, who are funded and supported via the Rotary Foundation.

“There are eight Rotary Peace Centres around the world, including one in Bradford in the UK.

“The centres offer selected students the opportunity to enrol for a masters’ degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution and related areas.

"There are currently more than 600 Rotary Peace Centre alumni working around the world to achieve peace in their chosen roles.

“Dr Chapman reminded us that most conflicts are based on miscommunication and misunderstanding amongst warring factions and countries.

“Rotary Peace Centres serve the critical need of rewarding Peace Fellowships to deserving candidates who graduate as Peace Ambassadors and then work at taking their knowledge and expertise to try and achieve peace and reconciliation in zones of conflict.

“Following an interesting Q&A session the vote of thanks speaker commented it was ironic that the presentation happened to be on the day that the Chilcot Report on the Iraq War was released.

“Northwich Vale Royal Rotary Club will look to consider whether there are potential candidates for Peace Fellows within the Vale Royal locality.”