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Trustee chair's December Message

26/11/2017

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This month my focus is on the purpose and power of partnerships. 

We have a history of partnerships at all levels of Rotary. We partner member to member, club to club, district to district, all finding support from the wide variety of The Rotary Foundation's programs, projects, and grants. How powerful this continues to be! 

But only in the last several decades have we paid much attention to the idea of partnering with organizations outside of Rotary. Most would agree this change led to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which has accomplished so much through each partner sharing its expertise and working together with a common purpose. This public-private partnership for global health is on the verge of eradicating an infectious disease affecting humans for only the second time in history. 

Simply put, partners agree to cooperate in advancing mutual goals. In so doing, they accomplish much more than one entity can alone. We now understand that to maximize our impact, Rotary must establish innovative partnerships, not just at all levels within our organization, but outside of Rotary as well. 

Our second major partnership initiative has been the Rotary Peace Centers program. In little over a decade, our peace centers have trained more than 1,100 individuals. Through this program, Rotary Peace Fellows develop the skills they need to serve as leaders and catalysts for peace and conflict resolution both in their communities and around the globe. 

Thanks to the ongoing work of the Joint Committee on Partnerships, which includes RI directors and Foundation trustees, the number of Rotary partnerships continues to grow. The Partnerships page at Rotary.org (go to About Rotary, then choose Partners) has a tremendous amount of information. Please take a few minutes and explore the page. Make sure to scroll all the way down to learn more about the partners and – most important – how your club or district can get involved. 

As we head toward 2018 and consider which New Year's resolutions we will make, dream big about the service opportunities waiting for us with our dedicated partners. 

Make 2018 the year to take advantage of all that Rotary offers and see how much more productive and effective we can be using the power of partnerships. 

Best wishes to you for a very happy new year. 

Paul A. Netzel 
Trustee Chair 2017-18 

December 2017

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Rotary International President's December Message

26/11/2017

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Seventy-two years ago, the United Nations was founded "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war ... [and] to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors." Despite those worthy aspirations, and generations of investment in achieving them, the "scourge of war" is still with us: Last year, more than 102,000 people died in 49 armed conflicts around the world. Some of those conflicts were in their fifth decade or beyond. Terrorism, intolerance, and extremism; the refugee crisis; and environmental degradation are now global challenges. 


Collectively, we seem further than ever from achieving the goals that were set with such ambition and optimism in 1945. Yet hope endures, as long as there are people willing to work for a more peaceful future – not only through their governments, but also beside them and beside each other. Today, Rotary is better placed than ever to have a real and lasting impact for peace: through our peace-focused programs, such as Rotary Peace Fellows, and through every area of our service. Water, sanitation, health, education, and economic development are all interrelated and part of the complex interactions that can lead to conflict – or avert it. To best leverage our service in all these areas, and to maximize their impact for peace, it is essential to understand these interactions and plan our service accordingly. 


For these reasons, we have scheduled a series of six presidential peacebuilding conferences between February and June in Canada, Lebanon, the UK, Australia, Italy, and the United States. These conferences will focus not on peace but on peacebuilding: We will share ways that we can work to build peace through the service of our Rotary clubs and districts. Five of the one-day conferences will illuminate the connections between peace and another area of focus. The first conference, in Vancouver, B.C., will explore the link between peace and another sphere of great concern to us in Rotary: environmental sustainability. You can view the full schedule and register at www.rotary.org/presidential-conferences. 


The goals are simple: to help Rotarians find new ways to advance peace through their service, to learn from experts, and to strengthen our abilities to build peace. It is my hope and belief that these conferences will help us move closer to a more peaceful world, through Rotary: Making a Difference. 

Ian H.S. Riseley 
President 2017-18 

December 2017 

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District 3300 Conference is on 8th and 9th December. Register NOW.

23/11/2017

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​As a Rotarian, why MUST you attend the District Conference?

1. Meet many Rotarians in one place – This is a perfect opportunity to network and share ideas with other Rotarians. You will also get to know the amazing projects carried out by other clubs. A DC is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences of Rotary membership.

2. Meaningful membership – A DC is for all club members and their spouses, not just for club officers and committee members. The purpose of a DC is for fellowship, good fun, inspirational speakers and discussion of matters which make one’s Rotary membership more meaningful.

3. Very rewarding experience – Every person (especially new members) who attends a DC finds that being a Rotarian becomes even more rewarding because of the new experiences, insights and acquaintances developed at the conference. Those who attend conferences regularly, enjoy going back, year after year.

4. The most important Rotary event – Every one of Rotary’s more than 500 districts has a conference annually. These meetings are considered so important that the Rotary International president selects a knowledgeable Rotarian as his personal representative to attend and address each conference. You should not MISS this! 

5. Become a better Club member and Leader – One of the benefits of attending a DC is the opportunity to become better acquainted with members of one’s own club in an informal setting. Lasting friendships grow from the hours spent at the House of Friendship at the DC.

6. A holiday  getaway at a very affordable cost at a fantastic resort – This is a good opportunity to take a break, visit the Sunway Lagoon Resort and have fun with like minded people interested in serving humanity. 

GET YOUR MEMBERS TO SIGN UP IMMEDIATELY.
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 Speaker at District Conference: Dr David Harilela from Hong Kong.
http://www.theonerotary3450.org/?page_id=43#.WgUYu1uCz4Y

"The One is a great cause, we started from zero. We are the first Hong Kong charity to go worldwide, in a sense through the connections of Rotary. The idea was just to bring all the heroes to Hong Kong and do the international competition, we get applicants from all over the world, but then I realized we couldn’t help the people in Hong Kong because when they compete with against the magnitude of the people looking after the lives of a million people or half a million people I felt I was failing somewhere. This is my home, I love Hong Kong, I want to do something for Hong Kong, and so I started The One Hong Kong last year, where the heroes in Hong Kong compete amongst themselves. We gave away 2 hundred thousand last year and this is an eternal commitment. When I do my projects, I look for people who are committed, like I am committed to The One for life, as long as I’m alive. The next step for me is to take this to all the countries of the world because if you can imagine we can find 2-3 heroes in every country of the world, what a great difference we can make in every society.

That is my vision that is the dream."

Also Manvir Jesudasan. Radio jockey. 

http://internationalforum.bmj.com/kuala-lumpur/2017/03/01/manvir-jesudasan/

Another speaker: Dr George Lee. Urologist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WAJuwCB3NA

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Join us in celebrating Foundation Month

14/11/2017

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Dear fellow Rotarians,

November is Foundation Month, and time for us to take a look at where we are in our Rotary Foundation: what it’s done, what it’s helping us do now, and how we can move forward.

Last Rotary year, our Foundation received US$304 million in total contributions: that included $140 million to the Annual Fund, $28 million to the Endowment Fund, and $108 million to PolioPlus. All of those gifts are now hard at work, Doing Good in the World: supporting Rotary’s work today and strengthening our organization for tomorrow. The Foundation approved 494 district grants and 1,260 global grants, with a total of $111 million in funding.

As you all know, polio eradication is the number one priority of Rotary and our Foundation. It has been a historic year for polio eradication, with unprecedented new support and fewer cases of polio than ever before. As announced at our Atlanta convention in June, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has increased its commitment to our polio eradication initiative, and will match 2:1 all Rotary contributions up to 50 million dollars, for the next three years. If Rotarians raise $50 million per year, the Gates Foundation will match this with $100 million: resulting in $150 million for polio eradication in each of the three years. In total, more than one billion dollars in new funding for polio were pledged by governments and key donors in Atlanta.

It was a great lead in to the 2017-2018 Rotary year, and Rotarians have been doing an amazing job not only of raising the money to fulfill our commitment, but keeping public awareness of polio high. Our fifth annual World Polio Day, on 24 October, was a great success; our livestream event, broadcast from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle, was our largest ever, with over 149,000 people viewing and Vice-President Dean Rohrs representing Rotary in the program.  Another 3,428 World Polio Day events took place around the world. It’s not too late to be a part of it; head over to the End Polio now website to see the recorded video.

In 2016, 37 children were paralyzed by the wild poliovirus. So far in 2017, that number stands at 13. We are on our way to zero, and you can follow that journey with the updates that are published every week by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

It’s important to remember that we have to keep doing everything we can do to End Polio Now, not only until the last child is paralyzed, but until eradication is certified by an independent commission. We expect that to happen at least three years from the last time wild poliovirus is found, in a child, a water supply, or anywhere else. Only then will we celebrate the end of polio—and the greatest work yet of Rotary and our Rotary Foundation.

Sincerely,

Ian Riseley
Rotary International President, 2017-18

Paul A. Netzel
Foundation Trustee Chair, 2017-18
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‘Peace needs to be lived’ - Rotary Day at the United Nations

13/11/2017

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Rotary Day at the United Nations pushes peace from concept to reality

By Geoff Johnson 
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Photos by Monika Lozinska

On the 99th anniversary of the end of World War I, more than 1,200 people gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for Rotary Day at the United Nations. 

Representing 87 countries, they convened on Saturday, 11 November, at the Palais des Nations, originally the home of the League of Nations, and dedicated themselves to the theme introduced by Rotary President Ian H. S. Riseley: “Peace: Making a Difference.”
View Slideshow
Rotary International honors six champions of peace at the United Nations on 11 November.

“The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace have always been among Rotary’s primary goals,” said Riseley. “It is past time for all of us to recognize the potential of all of our Rotary service to build peace, and approach that service with peacebuilding in mind.”

For the first time in its 13-year history, Rotary Day at the UN was held outside of New York.

Rotary Day concluded Geneva Peace Week, during which John Hewko, general secretary of Rotary International, noted the “close and longstanding ties between Rotary and the UN in (their) mutual pursuit of peace and international understanding.”

Rotary members “can transform a concept like peace to a reality through service,” said Ed Futa, dean of the Rotary Representatives to the United Nations. “Peace needs to be lived rather than preached.”

During a Rotary Day highlight, Hewko introduced Rotary’s 2017 People of Action: Champions of Peace. He praised them as “an embodiment of the range and impact of our organization’s work,” and saluted them for providing “a roadmap for what more peaceful, resilient societies look like.”

Rotary honored six individuals, who each made brief remarks. They were:
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  1. Alejandro Reyes Lozano, of the Rotary Club of Bogotá Capital, Cundinamarca, Colombia: As "part of the generation that grew up with uncertainty and fear,” as he put it, Reyes Lozano played a key role in negotiating an end to the 50-year conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Now he's using a Rotary Foundation global grant to lead peacebuilding efforts among women from six Latin American countries.

  2. Jean Best, of the Rotary Club of Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland: “Without peace within ourselves we will never advance global peace,” said Best, explaining The Peace Project, the program she created to help “the future leaders of peace” develop the skills they need to resolve the conflicts in their lives.

  3. Safina Rahman, of the Rotary Club of Dhaka Mahanagar, Bangladesh: “Education is a powerful and transformative vehicle for peace,” said Rahman, a passionate advocate for workers’ rights and workplace safety who also promotes and provides educational and vocational opportunities for girls. 

  4. Ann Frisch, of the Rotary Club of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, USA: Frisch’s Civilian-Based Peace Process introduced the radical concept of “unarmed civilian protection” in war zones around the world. “Sustainable peace,” she said, “requires strong civilian engagement.”

  5. Kiran Singh Sirah, Rotary Peace Fellow: As the president of the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee, USA, Sirah uses stories to foster peace, nurture empathy, and build a sense of community. “Stories matter—and I believe they matter a lot,” he said.

  6. Taylor Cass Talbot, Rotary Peace Fellow: Currently based in Portland, Oregon, USA, Cass Talbot partnered with SWaCH, a waste-picker cooperative in India to form Pushing for Peace, which promotes safety, sanitation, and dignity for waste pickers in Pune, India. Her advocacy also has an artistic flair: her Live Debris project creatively addresses issues of waste on a global scale.

Later, the six honorees participated in workshops devoted to sustainability and peace, as well as a workshop on education, science, and peace designed by and for young leaders in which Rotaract members from around the world played a prominent role. 

Dr. Michel Zaffran, the director of polio eradication at the World Health Organization, provided an update on efforts to eradicate polio. They noted the tremendous progress made by Rotary, WHO, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other partners in eliminating 99 percent of all global incidences of polio. 

Returning the focus to peace, Zaffran said: “This same international relationship (that’s eradicating polio),” he said, “can be used to achieve world peace.”

Zaffran was joined Her Excellency Mitsuko Shino, the deputy permanent representative of Japan to the international organizations in Geneva and co-chair of Global Polio Eradication Initiative's Polio Partners Group. 

In his keynote address, Riseley made a similar observation. “The work of polio eradication, has taught us . . . that when you have enough people working together, when you understand the problems and the processes, when you combine and leverage your resources, when you set a plan and set your targets — you can indeed move mountains,” he said. “And the need for action, and cooperation, is greater now than ever before.”

​https://www.rotary.org/en/peace-focus-rotary-day-un
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