GREETINGS FROM CANADA

We arrived safely in Vancouver on an extended Australia Day.

Thank you to those who attended the Gotomeeting last Wednesday. Secretary Debbie will be sending details of a new member application by Elizabeth Venz from Wagga Wagga to all members soon. It is great that we are starting to gain some new members and I encourage all to invite your acquaintances  to  join us.

Rotary to Support a polio free world

EVANSTON, Ill. (17 January 2017) —Rotary today announced $35 million in grants to support the global effort to end polio, bringing the humanitarian service organization’s contribution to $140 million since January 2016.

Nearly half of the funds Rotary announced today ($16.15 million) will support the emergency response campaigns in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin (Chad, northern Cameroon, southern Niger and Central African Republic). Four cases of polio were detected in Nigeria in 2016, which had previously not seen a case since July 2014.

With these cases, funding is needed to support rapid response plans in Nigeria and surrounding countries to stop the outbreak.

While significant strides have been made against the paralyzing disease, with just 35 cases reported in 2016, polio remains a threat in hard-to-reach and underserved areas, and conflict zones. To sustain this progress, and protect all children from polio, experts say $1.5 billion is needed.

In addition to supporting the response in the Lake Chad Basin region, funding has been allocated to support polio eradication efforts in Afghanistan ($7.15 million), Pakistan ($4.2 million), Somalia ($4.64 million), and South Sudan ($2.19 million). A final grant in the amount of $666,845 will support technical assistance in UNICEF’s West and Central Africa Regional Office.

Rotary has contributed more than $1.6 billion, including matching funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and countless volunteer hours since launching its polio immunization program, PolioPlus, in 1985. In 1988, Rotary became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and was later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since the initiative launched, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.9 percent, from about 350,000 cases a year to 35 confirmed in 2016, and no cases in 2017.

About Rotary

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 35,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping families in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. To access broadcast quality video footage and still photos go to: The Newsmarket.

REMINDER of GoToMeeting – Wednesday 25th January at 7.30pm Eastern Daylight Time.

The email with the link will be sent to all members.

REMinder GOTOMEETING 

Wednesday 14th December at 7.30pm ESDT (NSW & VIC time) If you have not received an email with the link to the Special General Meeting please email me requesting one at : johnroberson@bigpond.com

This is Disease Prevention and Treatment Month

DID YOU KNOW 

The roots of Rotary’s representative network actually predate the formal chartering of the UN after World War II. In 1942, Rotary clubs from 21 nations organized a conference in London attended by ministers of education to develop ideas for advancing education, science, and culture across nations. This meeting was the impetus for what is known today as UNESCO — the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Delegations of Rotary members helped draft the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945 and gave the organization strong support during its early years, until the Cold War turned it into an ideological battleground. Rotary’s participation decreased over the following decades in keeping with its policy against political involvement.

The spark that restored Rotary’s interest in the UN was the launch of the campaign to eradicate polio in 1985, and the ensuing partnership with the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

“With the advent of PolioPlus [Rotary’s campaign against polio], it became very important to re-establish our presence,” says Jenkins.

In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. Those delegates deliberated on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks, United States in August-October 1944. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 Member States. The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.

ROTARY-UN CELEBRATION MIXES BUSINESS WITH DIPLOMACY

The Rotary Responsible Business honorees are, from left: Jean-Paul Faure, Stephanie Woollard, Mercantil Banco Universal representative Luis Calvo Blesa, Larry Wright, Annemarie Mostert, Suresh Goklaney, and Coca-Cola Pakistan representative Fahad Qadir. (Not pictured: Juan Silva Beauperthuy.)

Photo Credit: Monika Lozinska/Rotary International

Outside the United Nations building in midtown Manhattan stands an imposing sculpture of a man wielding a sword in one hand and raising a hammer with the other. It reflects a shared goal that Rotary and the United Nations celebrated at the organizations’ annual meeting on Saturday, 12 November: to use our strengths and tools to build a more peaceful and just world.

The theme of this year’s Rotary Day at the United Nations, “Responsible Business, Resilient Societies,” emphasizes Rotary’s role as a global network of business leaders using the tools of their trades to build stronger, more prosperous communities.

In his introductory remarks, Rotary International President John F. Germ drew the crowd’s attention to the statue, “Let Us Beat Our Swords Into Ploughshares,” as he set the tone for the day, which included breakout sessions and keynote addresses on aspects of responsible business, or the philosophy that for-profit enterprise can contribute to positive social and economic development.

“Here is where the UN and Rotary International are working side by side, equipping communities with the tools they need, and empowering them with the will to use those tools far and wide,” he said.

Per Saxegaard, founder and chairman of the Oslo-based Business for Peace Foundation, gave a keynote address on the complex relationship between business and broader society, marked by both tension and opportunity. Despite the perception that profit alone motivates enterprise, he says, commercial success and social progress are closely intertwined.

“Societal needs define markets,” he said. “I have met many entrepreneurs in my career, and they all have one thing in common: They see a problem, and they say ‘I can fix that, and I can do it cheaper and better.’ That is the engine of innovation in business. We need that energy to solve the problems at hand,” such as hunger or illiteracy. He pointed to the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN’s ambitious roadmap for eliminating poverty by 2030 and highlighted the opportunity for businesses to help achieve them.

Other speakers included UN Under Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo and UNICEF polio chief Reza Houssaini, who provided an update on the polio eradication campaign.

John Hewko, general secretary of Rotary International, introduced eight Rotary Responsible Business honorees, six individuals and two corporate partners whose inclusive business practices are bringing employment, mentoring, education, and innovation to their communities.

The individuals honored were:

• Juan Silva Beauperthuy, Rotary Club of Chacao, Venezuela: For 25 years, Beauperthuy has helped keep disadvantaged youths on the right track through Queremos Graduarnos, an education program focused on mentoring and skill development, with support from his engineering firm. Today, the program serves more than 700 students in 18 schools.
• Jean-Paul Faure, Rotary Club of Cagnes-Grimaldi, France: To encourage young professionals and provide promising new businesses with training and funding, Faure launched a business contest called Le Trophée du Rotary. Now in its seventh year, the program has drawn support from a major bank and has kept past participants involved as mentors.
• Suresh Goklaney, Rotary Club of Bombay, India: Goklaney, executive vice chair of a large manufacturer of UV water purification systems, has led efforts to provide clean water in rural villages and impoverished urban areas throughout India. The project has also established centers where local women can sell clean water to generate income.
• Annemarie Mostert, Rotary Club of Southern Africa, South Africa: Mostert formed Sesego Cares, a Johannesburg-based nonprofit, in 2005 to offer education and job training, and to teach entrepreneurship and leadership development to women and children. She also worked with TOMS Shoes to provide 1.3 million pairs of its shoes to the country’s poor.
• Stephanie Woollard, Rotary Club of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: After meeting seven illiterate craftspeople during a visit to Nepal, Woollard founded Seven Women to help Nepalese women make products to sell abroad. The program, which has trained and employed more than 1,000 women in the past decade, also teaches basic bookkeeping and computer skills.
• Larry Wright, Rotary Club of Taylor, Michigan, USA: A master gardener, Wright started his landscaping business with a bank loan in the 1970s. In 2013, he led an effort to adapt a microfinance model that had succeeded abroad to offer microloans, business classes, and mentorship to entrepreneurs in Detroit.

The business partners honored were:

• Coca-Cola Pakistan has supported the Rotary Pakistan National PolioPlus Charitable Trust since 2010 to promote polio prevention and awareness, particularly through publicity and projects to provide clean water, in one of the few countries where polio remains endemic.
• Mercantil Banco Universal supports a project that has trained 6,000 students in 40 universities across Venezuela in social responsibility and leadership, with the goal of encouraging students to use their academic knowledge to respond to the challenges of underserved communities.

In the afternoon, Rotary member Devin Thorpe spoke about the intersection of profit and purpose. Infusing a corporate program with a sense of social purpose pays off, he says, because it breeds loyalty and satisfaction among both customers and employees.

“When a purpose program is profitable, there is no limit to the good that can come from it,” he said. “Corporations are made up of people. We in this room bear the responsibility to shape corporate behavior, it is up to each one of us.”

Watch video coverage of the event on UN Web TV.

By Sallyann Price

Rotary news

12-Nov-2016

Annual General Meeting

Thank you to those who attended the Rotary E-club of District 9700-Serving Humanity AGM last Tuesday 15th November. The Minutes will be posted in the members section soon.  The new Club Constitution and Bylaws will be adopted at the next meeting as they require amendment. The meeting decided that the current executive would remain in office for one more year as we are new to the concept of an E-club and need to develop the potential of our Club. We also need to attract more members to be a viable Club.

It was resolved to hold our Board Meetings by GoToMeeting on the first Wednesday each month at 7.30pm ESDT, however the next one will have to be the second week in December as I will be away on the first Wednesday. 

Those elected for the 2017-18 year are:

President 2017-18                   John Roberson

Vice President                      To be elected next meeting

President Elect 2018-19             To be elected next meeting

President Nominee 2019-20           To be elected next meeting

Secretary                           Debbie Schache

Treasurer                           Marilyn Roberts

Directors:
Admin                               Cameron McKern 
Foundation                          Ruth Barber                                                   
Membership                          Malcolm Dunnett
Public Relations                    Marilyn Roberts
International Service               Sharon Daishe
Youth & Australian Service          Lauren Slater
 
Other member committee positions are:
Membership                          Donna Vaughan
International Service               Kate Bowyer
Youth & Australian Service          Jemma Hayward

The positions for President Elect and Nominee must be filled by the end of December as Rotary International require the names for those positions by then. Please consider your commitment and let me know if you can see your way to accepting one of them.  Our Club needs them filled to remain viable.

Remaining positions to be elected at Meeting, to be held Wednesday 14^th December at 7.30pm NSW/VIC time.

 Rotary Foundation named World’s Outstanding Foundation for 2016

Photo Credit: Rotary International/Alyce Henson

The Association of Fundraising Professionals has recognized The Rotary Foundation with its annual Award for Outstanding Foundation.

The award honors organizations that show philanthropic commitment and leadership through financial support, innovation, encouragement of others, and involvement in public affairs. Some of the boldest names in American giving — Kellogg, Komen, and MacArthur, among others —are past honorees.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from the AFP, which gives us even more reason to celebrate during our Foundation’s centennial year,” says Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Kalyan Banerjee. “The continued strong support of Rotary members will help us keep our promise of a polio-free world for all children and enable the Foundation to carry out its mission of advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace. We look forward to another 100 years of Rotary members taking action to make communities better around the world.”

The announcement came on 15 November, known to industry professionals since the 1980s as National Philanthropy Day. The award will be presented in early 2017 at the AFP’s annual conference in San Francisco.

Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair-elect Paul Netzel is set to accept the award on Rotary’s behalf, and Eric Schmelling, director of fund development at Rotary, will speak at the conference. The event is expected to draw more than 3,400 senior-level fundraising professionals from 33 countries.

“While almost everyone is familiar with Rotary, not everyone may realize just how much of an impact Rotary and The Rotary Foundation have had on countless people and communities across the globe,” says Jason Lee, AFP president and CEO. “On behalf of the entire charitable sector and people around the world, all of us at AFP are honored to be able to recognize The Rotary Foundation as our 2016 Outstanding Foundation.”

AFP’s committee of judges cited Rotary’s comprehensive campaign to eradicate polio as a major driver of the selection. They also mentioned that Rotary applies a methodical, purposeful approach to support a wide variety of causes, from providing clean water to educating the next generation of peace professionals.

Rotary News

15-Nov-2016