SRINAGAR — The International Leadership Center at Yale University announced Waheed Ur Rehman Para as the inaugural Yale Peace Fellow for the year 2023. The Peace Fellowship is an intensive program that brings emerging leaders in peace to Yale for research, mentoring, and training. Waheed Para will participate in high-level strategy events on peace and conflict resolution.
The selected fellows consist of global leaders working in the environment, government, technology, conflict-resolution, international development, and business, around the world. They include a Chinese climate communicator, an Indian social entrepreneur, and an Ivorian development economist.
Para, a political leader from India, has dedicated his life to strengthening democracy and peace in Jammu and Kashmir. He will join a community of exceptional leaders committed to fostering excellence in peace leadership. The Peace Fellowship aims to build the capacity of a rising generation of peacemakers and mediators, distill lessons in peace building, and forge international partnerships.
“We are honored to welcome Waheed Ur Rehman Para as the 2023 Peace Fellow,” reads a newsletter on Yale Website quoting Emma Sky, Director of the International Leadership Center at Yale. “At a time when traditional institutions and mechanisms for peace are being seriously challenged, the Peace Fellowship will provide critical support to rising leaders like Para who are working towards a more peaceful and just world.”
The Peace Fellowship is managed in collaboration with Inter Mediate, a leading peace-making organization dedicated to ending armed conflict. Inter Mediate CEO, Jonathan Powell, who was the lead British negotiator for the Good Friday Agreement, will work alongside the Yale team to provide mentorship and guidance to the Peace Fellow.
Located within the Jackson School of Global Affairs, the International Leadership Center at Yale University houses several other fellowship programs, including the Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program, the Petraeus-Recanati-Kaplan (PRK) Fellowship, and the Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship.
The World Fellows program Is Yale University’s signature global leadership development initiative and a core element of Yale’s ongoing commitment to internationalism. Each year, the University selects 16 individuals from a highly competitive applicant pool for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training. This cohort brings the total number of World Fellows since the program’s start in 2002 to over 400 Fellows, representing 96 countries.
“I am honored and delighted to welcome these leaders and innovators to campus,” said Yale President Peter Salovey. “World Fellows have improved people’s lives, and their contributions have far reaching influence on society. They enrich our learning environment by sharing their expertise and experiences with our students. They have the opportunity to grow academically and personally as they interact with our community. This program is an example of Yale’s commitment to developing globally engaged leaders.”
The mission of the World Fellows Program is to enable extraordinary individuals, from across the globe and from diverse disciplines, to increase their capacity to make the world a better place. The program is the heart of the International Leadership Center, housed within the Jackson School of Global Affairs where Yale students prepare for global leadership and service through its master’s program in public policy in global affairs, master of advanced study in global affairs, and undergraduate major in global affairs.
Meanwhile, Yale international programs head has written to Government of India and Union Home Secretary for allowing Waheed Para to travel and attend the fellowship.
Meanwhile, Mehbooba Mufti has congratulated Waheed Para, Youth President of her Party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on his selection as the inaugural Yale Peace Fellow at Yale University.
His contributions towards strengthening democracy & peace in Kashmir has been outstanding. I wish him luck, Mehbooba said. — (KDC)