WHAT IS ROTARY?
Founded in Chicago USA
in 1905 by Paul Harris, Rotary International is a worldwide organization of
business & professional people. There are over 45,000 clubs and over 1.2m
members, representing almost every walk of life. Rotary's motto is 'Service
Above Self'. Its mission is to provide service in the community, in the
workplace, and throughout the world to build goodwill and peace, provide
humanitarian service, and to encourage high ethical standards in all
vocations.
Worldwide
A good example of Rotary
worldwide is Polio Plus. This is a programme which has the goal of the total eradicating
polio. Rotary has raised over $2.9 billion to end polio, including matching
funds from partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Since 1988, we've seen a
worldwide reduction in polio cases of 99.9%. Only two countries remain
polio-endemic: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The eradication of polio
is one of our longest standing and most significant efforts. Along with our
partners, we have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio
in 122 countries. We have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide and we
won't stop until we end the disease for good.
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