MY ROTARY

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteers who dedicate their time and talent to tackle the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members from more than 200 countries and geographical areas.

Their work impacts lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world.

Rotary also offers expanded service opportunities including:

·         Interact: A service organization organized and sponsored by Rotary clubs for young adults aged 12-18. There are more than 12,300 Interact clubs in 133 countries.

·         Rotaract: Groups organized by Rotary clubs to promote leadership, professional development, and service among young adults aged 18-30. There are more than 8,000 Rotaract clubs in 167 countries.

·         Rotary Community Corps (RCCs): Groups of non-Rotary members who work to improve their communities. There are more than 7,500 RCCs in 80 countries, all organized and sponsored by Rotary clubs.

Membership Snapshot

Who: Rotary brings together the kind of people who step forward to take on important issues for local communities worldwide. Rotary members hail from a range of professional backgrounds; doctors, artists, small business owners and executives all call themselves Rotarians. Rotary connects these unique perspectives, and helps leverage its members’ expertise to improve lives everywhere.

Where: From Haiti and Greenland to Nigeria and Singapore, Rotary unites a truly diverse set of leaders from across the world. Currently, the largest number of clubs comes from the United States, India, Japan and Brazil. The fastest growing Rotary regions include Southeast Asia and Africa.

What: Rotarians contribute their time, energy and passion to sustainable, long-term projects in local communities across the globe. Projects focus on important issues like peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy and economic and community development.

RI Theme 2018-19

2018-19 RI Theme - Be the Inspiration

RI Theme 2018-19

 

Rotary International President-elect Barry Rassin laid out his vision for the future of the organization on Sunday, calling on leaders to work for a sustainable future and to inspire Rotarians and the community at large. 2018-19 RI President Barry Rassin announces his presidential theme, Be the Inspiration, at Rotary's International Assembly.

Rassin stressed the power of Rotary’s new vision statement, “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.” This describes the Rotary that leaders must help build, he said.

To achieve this vision, the president-elect said, Rotarians must take care of the organization: “We are a membership organization first. And if we want to be able to serve, if we want to succeed in our goals — we have to take care of our members first.” Rassin asked the incoming district governors to “inspire the club presidents, and the Rotarians in your districts, to want to change. To want to do more, to want to reach their own potential.

Progress on polio

Rassin noted that one source of inspiration has been Rotary’s work to eradicate polio. He described the incredible progress made over the past three decades. In 1988, an estimated 350,000 people were paralyzed by the wild poliovirus; just 20 cases were reported in 2017 as of 27 December. “We are at an incredibly exciting time for polio eradication,” he said, “a point at which each new case of polio could very well be the last.”

 He emphasized that even when that last case of polio is recorded, the work won’t be finished. “Polio won’t be over, until the certifying commission says it’s over—when not one poliovirus has been found, in a river, in a sewer, or in a paralyzed child, for at least three years,” he said. “Until then, we have to keep doing everything we’re doing now.” He urged continued dedication to immunization and disease surveillance programs. 

Sustaining the environment

Rotary has focused heavily on sustainability in its humanitarian work in recent years. Now, Rassin said, Rotarians must acknowledge some hard realities about pollution, environmental degradation, and climate change. He noted that 80 percent of his own country is within one meter of sea level. With sea levels projected to rise two meters by 2100, he said, “my country is going to be gone in 50 years, along with most of the islands in the Caribbean and coastal cities and low-lying areas all over the world.”

Rassin urged leaders to look at all of Rotary’s service as part of a larger global system. He said that this means the incoming district governors must be an inspiration not only to clubs, but also to their communities.

“We want the good we do to last. We want to make the world a better place. Not just here, not just for us, but everywhere, for everyone, for generations.”

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-          For more Details: https://my.rotary.org/en