AnWarul Chowdhury

Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

H.E. Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury has devoted many years as an inspirational champion for sustainable peace and development and ardently advancing the cause of the global movement for the culture of peace that has energized civil society all over the world.  As a career diplomat, Permanent Representative to United Nations, President of the UN Security Council, President of UNICEF Board, UN Under-Secretary-General, the Senior Special Advisor to the UN General Assembly President, and recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, Spirit of the UN Award and University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor’s Medal for Global Leadership for Peace, Ambassador Chowdhury has a wealth of experience in the critical issues of our time - peace, sustainable development, and human rights. Ambassador Chowdhury’s legacy and leadership in advancing the best interest of the global community are boldly imprinted in his pioneering initiative in March 2000 as the President of the Security Council that achieved the political and conceptual breakthrough leading to the adoption of the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325(link is external) in which the Council recognized for the first time the role and contribution of women in the area of peace and security. Equally pioneering are his initiatives at the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 for adoption of the landmark Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and in 1998 for the proclamation of the “International Decade for Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010)”.

United Nations Association, Rotary Action Group for Peace  

Barbara Gaughen-Muller is a peacemaker, author, speaker, radio host, visionary and consultant to world leaders.  She co-authored Revolutionary Conversations: The Tools You Need for the Success You Want showing how peace begins with us. Her weekly Peace Podcast with World Peacemakers are available on PeacePodcast.org and on PeacePodcastYouTube. Barbara is president, UNA-socal.org and co-created the Santa Barbara UNA Peace Prize to honor peacemakers working locally on global problems.  She is a co-founder of Rotary E Club of World Peace. She helped orchestrate the first Rotary World Peace Conference in 2016.  She is a Paul Harris Fellow.  She spoke at the United Nations, where she received the Spirit of the United Nations Award.  She and her late husband Dr. Robert Muller, former UN ASG, co-authored “7500 Ideas for a Better World” that is shared daily on www.GoodMorningWorld.org in 5 world languages.  She co-created the La Casa Invitational where global thinkers met to solve world problems.  She is the founder of Gaughen Global Public Relations, which received the 2018 IRWIN Award.  “Our future requires a world that works together” so we can avoid what just might be our last century on our precious life-sustaining Planet Earth. 

Canadian author, parliamentarian, diplomat and peace activist  

The Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C., is a former Canadian Senator, parliamentarian, diplomat and author.  He is Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Middle Powers Initiative, an international network of eight international non-governmental organizations specializing in nuclear disarmament issues. In 2010, the City of Hiroshima named him an Honorary Citizen for his extensive nuclear disarmament work and particularly for founding the Middle Powers Initiative.  Mr. Roche has been a Canadian Senator, Member of Parliament, and Ambassador for Disarmament, and also a Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee at the 43rd General Assembly in 1988 and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.  He has authored 20 books including How We Stopped Loving the Bomb (Lorimer, 2011), his memoirs: Creative Dissent: A Politician's Struggle for Peace (Novalis, 2008), and The Human Right to Peace (Novalis, 2003) and The United Nations in the 21st Century (Lorimer, 2015).  His most recent work is Recovery: Peace Prospects in the Biden Era (Khalid Yaqub, 2020).  He has received many awards for his work for peace and non-violence including the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for World Peace Award (Canada) and the United Nations Association's Medal of Honour.  In 1995, Pope John Paul II presented Douglas Roche with the Papal Medal for his service as Special Advisor on disarmament and security matters and, in 1998, the Holy See named him a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.  He was given Lifetime Achievement awards by the Canadian Pugwash Group and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in 2005, and received the Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians for his "promotion of human welfare, human rights and parliamentary democracy in Canada and abroad" in 2009.  Douglas Roche is a Principal Signatory of Global Zero.

Pivot2Peace, World Beyond War, Rotary

Helen is the Founder of Pivot2Peace, a member of the Canada-wide Peace and Justice Network.  She is also a Chapter Coordinator for World Beyond War – a global movement to end all wars with members in 190 countries. And she is a Rotarian, Past Peace Chair for District 7010, and currently Rotary’s Coordinator for Mutually Assured Survival.  In April 2021, Helen gave a presentation in which she advocated for Rotary to endorse the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).  The presentation went viral – with Helen talking to Rotarians in India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada, United States, Russia, and more.  Rotary grassroots support to endorse the TPNW grew by 50% and is still growing.  Helen holds a BSc and MSc in Math and Computer Science.  In her early career, she worked as a Corporate Executive/Consultant while exploring, outside the office, the “why am I here” question.  The two paths came together when she formed her own consulting company, Turning Point, to raise consciousness in large organizations (Motorola, Cara Operations, Hydro One) through her unique Leadership and Teambuilding programs.   Helen’s mission in retirement is to help raise Peace Consciousness on the planet so that we no longer tolerate the use of War as a means to resolve conflict.  She is fortunate to have traveled to 114 countries and is truly a “global citizen”.   

GreenHeart Education, Associate, Climate Emergency Institute, 

Teacher, Teacher Trainer, Adult Educator, and former Coordinator of Environment and Sustainability Programs at an independent boys' school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  

Julie started out as a French as a Second Language teacher, morphing into environmental education when she found her activist voice to save a beloved river (the Nechako, in central British Columbia). Transformative sustainability education is now her focus.  In 2003, she completed her master's degree in adult education, with a focus on environmental adult education. Her research looked into barriers and enticements to environmental learning and action; her thesis is entitled Sustainable Development Learning as Enticement to Environmental Action.  She had the opportunity to present environmental education workshops in Canada, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and online. Most recently, her workshop, Greening the Heart of Education, has been presented to teachers in Ethiopia. She has also worked with educators in Malaysia, the USA, and Kenya where she helped with the permaculture school garden program for Kasanga Girls School.  She works with preschoolers to adults; most of her experience has been with middle school students and student teachers, and she loves working with all ages in a wide variety of settings.  She still wants to believe that a happy, healthy and sustainable future for our grandchildren is possible — if we rekindle our inherent love for the Earth and Mother Nature, FAST.

Climate Emergency Institute   

Peter is a retired doctor, after nearly 40 years in practice as a family physician, first in England and then in Newfoundland and British Columbia, Canada.  When his sons were born, he became actively involved in environmental, peace, and sustainable development issues, especially as they relate to children's health. Fatherhood created that urge to leave the world a better place as a legacy for his children.  Peter was part of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War -IPPNW, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.  As a founding director of CAPE - Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Peter has presented on sustainable development and environmental health policy issues in Canada and the United States.  Peter has since launched the Climate Emergency Institute and is the force behind Climate Change Emergency Medical Response for healthcare professionals.  Peter is also an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - IPCC 2014, 2018, and the co-author with Elizabeth Woodworth of Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival, with Clarity Press. 

Coordinator, Organizer, Author, Adult Educator

​Sandy's life is spent working for world peace, including mutually assured survival that includes ending the war on nature and making peace with nature.  He is an educator, administrator and creative developer for peace, nature and humanity. Sandy provides programs for libraries and organizations in person and on Zoom in personal development, communications and relationships, and social and global development for peace and sustainability. He worked locally, nationally and globally developing organizations, projects and programs for peace, the environment, health and human services, education and the arts. He helps seniors, adults, teens and children reach their full potential and enjoy life more. Sandy was director of Community Partners for Coordinated Services for Suffolk Community Council, and executive director of the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center for 14 years.  He is author of 7 Keys to Love – Opening Love’s Door to Joy & Wellbeing.  He initiated the Concert for the Earth with Paul Winter for the UN Environment Program held in the United Nations General Assembly on World Environment Day, June 5th, 1984. He created Commonwealth for Earth & Humanity in 2014, proposing 10% global military reductions, now being proposed for Mutually Assured Survival.  Sandy called for an annual Sacred Earth Economics Conference in 2016.  He is webmaster for this Mutually Assured Survival website, the Evolved Leaders for Mutually Assured Survival website, and Wisocracy he founded.