Class XI (2013-2014)

Sponsor Club: London Rotary Club, UK. District 1130

Host Club: Logan Rotary Club, District 9630

Diego is a third generation Italian Brazilian. He has always had an interest in different cultures and languages. This interest has lead him to study and work in different parts of the world.

Prior to undertaking the Rotary Peace Fellowship, Diego worked as a volunteer for five years in the field of development in both church-based programs and NGOs. He gained experience in a variety of issues including the Middle East Peace process, election monitoring, reconciliation and post-disaster development.

In 2011 as a Frits Philips Fund recipient Diego worked on post-tsunami responses in Japan.

As part of the Rotary Peace Fellowship at UQ Diego joined the UNDP team in Geneva for four months on Early Recovery at the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery. His time there included responding to the hurricane disaster in the Philippines, crises in South Sudan, and the Cental African Republic. He also worked on providing ongoing support to other regions that form part of the Early Recovery Cluster support system for humanitarian response.

Diego has been particularly interested in post-war/post-disaster development as well as dialogue towards conflict resolution and peace building. Being a Rotary Peace Fellow is an exciting opportunity to further his expertise in areas of crisis prevention and recovery as well as cross-cultural understanding.