Dear Rotarians,
This month we are celebrating! We are celebrating the 115th anniversary of our organization! Rotary was officially established on February 23, 1905.
A Chicago lawyer, Paul Harris, founded Rotary Club Chicago, along with a tailor, a coal trader, and a mining engineer. Four people with different backgrounds. They exchanged ideas during their meetings, creating lifelong meaningful friendships. They evolved from mutual professional support to social service. And is this still our Unique Selling Point? Vocational Training! (= professional support)
"Whatever Rotary means to us, it will become known to the world through performance."
After 16 years there were already Rotary clubs on 6 continents. Now, 115 years after the foundation, there are 1,300,000 members all over the world and we all try to tackle global problems together.
We have bold dreams and great expectations: just think of the fight against polio. In 1979 the vaccination campaign was started in the Philippines and 6 million children were vaccinated.
In 1988 there were 125 countries with polio. Now there are 3 countries where people are at risk. Moreover, these countries are very difficult to reach.
We can rightly be proud that at the end of the Second World War Rotary was one of the founders of the development of the United Nations. Today, as a non-governmental organization, Rotary has the highest advisory status within the UN. It was offered to her by the UN Economic and Social Council, which oversees many specialized UN agencies.
We try to create a better world with very diverse projects. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are our mottos.
Rotary is a world network that strives to unite people and to take action together to bring about sustainable change.
Rotary values and promotes diversity.
The positive input of people with a different socio-cultural identity, different ages, different competencies, is an invaluable added value. An enrichment, not only in international projects, but equally at home.
A top priority for Rotary is to grow in diversity so that we are a representation of the community that created us.
We must become an organization that is open and integrating to our own environment so that we reflect the society that we want to serve in our own organization.
Rotarians are members with different perspectives and different ideas that contribute to helping the world around them.
Everyone who respects the values of Rotary is welcome.
In Rotary everyone must be able to find opportunities that help foreign people to integrate on foreign soil
At the Conference of 13 June. This theme will certainly be addressed.
M.-Elisabeth Van Alsenoy
DG 2019-2020 D 2170
