Rotary Day at United Nations, November 5, 2011
Rotary-UN Day, New York
Did you know Rotarians helped to draft the UN Charter? Rotary's major initiatives of focus include disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, and peaceful conflict resolution....these are aligned with the UN millenium development goals. Learn more about how Rotary is changing the world, one person at a time, and how we are making a difference with our efforts here in Portsmouth.
PolioPlus, started in 1988, now has succeeded in eliminating virulent polio from all but four countries (India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan). India and Nigeria, further, have seen 90-percent reductions in recent years. Rotarians have raised over one-billion dollars for PolioPlus, and that has been leveraged into some five billion in total funding to combat polio. So far this year there has not been a new case of polio in India! We will get this done....we are this close.
Maternal and child health initiatives are tackling infant and mother-mortality problems around the globe, with 57 countries facing critical shortage of trained nurses and midwives, and many more facing sanitation and hygiene issues.
Microbank funding projects help treat water, relieving women of the need to be "bearing water" from rivers to home all day, and freeing them to start small businesses and generate economic progress in their villages. Every such project is sponsored by a local Rotary Club, and is triggered by that club's request.
1500 Rotarians in 75+ countries today are working on WAS projects (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). And in an organization that loves its acronyms, there is a WAS-Rotarian Action Group. Want to know more? www.wasrag.org. (Type carefully, no "h" in the middle).
Download the website sponsorship guide