PKSOI Staff meets with Ms. Walia from Kenya
to discuss Peacekeeping Collaboration
U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability
Operations Institute (PKSOI) Professor
Rick Coplen organized a meeting on 6
November 2015 between PKSOI personnel and Sudesh Walia, peace trainer and
promoter as well as past president of the
Rotary Club of Nairobi, Kenya. Discussions, spanning multiple disciplines,
focused on potential collaborations
between PKSOI, Rotary International,
and Rotary Clubs in Kenya, Ethiopia,
and South Sudan. Collaborative opportunities discussed included Rotary Peace
Scholars and Rotarians from Africa
serving as PKSOI Fellows and Interns,
publication contributors, guest lecturers
in PKSOI elective courses (in person and virtually), and participants in the Peacekeeping Communities of Practice in the
Stability Operations Lessons Learned Information Management System (SOLLIMS).
Originally from New Delhi, Ms. Walia moved to Kenya in the 1970s to pursue a career in teaching, eventually becoming
a School Principal, whose schools earned national academic awards. She has a record of humanitarian service and is very
active in international projects specifically promoting peace, health, education, community and economic development in
Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and beyond.
Several PKSOI staff and professors are also members of the Rotary Club of Carlisle, which sponsored Ms. Walia’s visit to
Pennsylvania. These PKSOI Rotarians promote community development locally and peacekeeping and stability activities
internationally. PKSOI is also facilitating Ms. Walia’s visit in mid-January 2016 to the International Peace Support Training
Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, where further collaboration opportunities will be explored.
Prof. Coplen manages the PKSOI Electives program at the U.S. Army War College and teaches the hybrid PKSOI course,
“Facilitating Collaboration: Economic and Infrastructure Development” for War College resident and distance students.
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