Navigating the Global Network

July 2008

WHO announces polio is 'top operational priority'

At the RI Convention in Los Angeles, World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan announced that polio eradication is now WHO's "top operational priority on a most urgent, if not an emergency, basis."

Chan said she will reallocate resources and move staff to help wipe out the disease for good. Leaders of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's spearheading partners - WHO, UNICEF, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Rotary International - were on hand as a new $100 million fundraising initiative was launched to match a grant to Rotary from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read more about the event.

Rotary officially launches $100 million challenge

Rotary has invited the general public to participate in a special fundraising drive to help end polio. Contributions will benefit the organization's effort to match a $100 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $200 million will support polio eradication activities.

Through the Web site www.rotary.org/endpolio, Rotary urges everyone "to become part of history by donating to the global effort to wipe out the crippling disease polio."

By the time the disease is eradicated, the organization will have contributed more than $850 million and countless volunteer hours to the cause.

Korean businessman to lead Rotary International

Dong Kurn Lee, chair of Korea's Bubang Co. Ltd. and Bubang Techron Co. Ltd., took office July 1 as president of Rotary International, a volunteer service organization with more than 1.2 million members in over 200 countries and geographical areas.

Lee has identified child mortality as his top area of focus.

Learn more about the RI president.

First African Rotary Foundation trustee chair takes office

Jonathan B. Majiyagbe, a Nigerian lawyer who took office July 1 as Rotary Foundation trustee chair, will devote his one-year term to fighting polio in its last remaining strongholds, which include his homeland.

As Rotary's charitable arm, the Foundation supports an array of humanitarian and educational projects carried out by Rotary clubs worldwide. Majiyagbe leads its 15-member board of trustees.

Find out more about the Foundation's work.

India's giving to The Rotary Foundation rises significantly

With efforts ranging from large-scale community development projects to polio eradication, Indian Rotarians are improving lives through their increased support for The Rotary Foundation.

Over the past three years, India as a country has moved from ninth to fourth worldwide in total giving to the Foundation. Several recent contributions have been substantial.

In 2006, Rotarian Harshad R. Mehta and his wife, Naina, made a $1 million gift to the Foundation, and in December, they committed to giving $2 million over the next three years to Rotary's $100 Million Challenge for polio eradication.

Rajashree Birla, also of India, contributed $300,000 to endow an Ambassadorial Scholarship and made a surprise announcement in April of a $1 million commitment to Rotary's challenge. In May, with Birla's encouragement, Usha Mittal, wife of Lakshmi Mittal, a prominent steel company CEO, generously pledged another $1 million.

Read more about Rotary giving in India.

Rotary tackles clean water issues

Rotary recently held a full-day conference on water sustainability that featured experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USAID, Water for People and the PepsiCo Foundation.

The event focused on avoidable deaths caused by unsafe drinking water and highlighted ways Rotary and other groups can work toward change.

Read more about Rotary's work to provide clean water.

Rotarian Dick McCombe Rotary responds to Haitian food crisis

Throughout the developing world, factors such as population growth, increased demand for food and climate change have led to a hunger crisis. In the Caribbean, Rotary club members have joined forces to help address the problem.

Rotarian Dick McCombe, of the Bahamas (pictured), worked with clubs throughout the Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname, and parts of the United States to raise more than $62,000 to provide Haiti with emergency food supplies.

In cooperation with 15 Haitian Rotary clubs, more than 280,000 prepackaged meals were delivered by the end of April. Plans are under way to send an additional 1.4 million meals.

Learn more about this effort.

Book drive sets world record

Rotary's commitment to literacy was on display when it set a Guinness world record at the 2008 RI Convention for the most books donated during a seven-day period.

Watch a video about Rotary's record-breaking literacy project.

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Representatives to the UN and Other Organizations

Rotary representatives are appointed by the Rotary International president to increase awareness and recognition of Rotary's programs, policies, and activities within the international community. Rotary representatives work with NGOs and intergovernmental organizations to lay the groundwork for future collaboration at regional and community levels.

UNITED NATIONS - NEW YORK
Brad Jenkins, Primary Representative
Sylvan M. Barnet, Jr., Alternate
Robert A. Coultas, Alternate
William A. "Bill" Miller, Alternate
Helen B. Reisler, Alternate

UNITED NATIONS - GENEVA
Gilbert Coutau, Primary Representative
Peter Eichenberger, Alternate

UNITED NATIONS - VIENNA
Karl-Heinz Wolff, Primary Representative
Franz Zeidler, Alternate

UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (ECA)
Shifarraw Bizuneh, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE (ECE)
Gilbert Coutau, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (ECLAC)
Eric Krumm, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA (ESCWA)
Michel Jazzar, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (ESCAP)
Som Indra-Payoong, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS
EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND CULTURAL
ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
Bernard Dervaux, Primary Representative
Cyril Noirtin, Alternate

COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Gérard Caen, Primary Representative
François Goettelmann, Alternate

AFRICAN UNION
Shifarraw Bizuneh, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS
ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP)
Henry Kyemba, Primary Representative

UNITED NATIONS
HUMAN SETTLEMENT PROGRAMME (UN-HABITAT)
Samuel F. Owori, Primary Representative

UN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)/ WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP)
Marco Randone, Primary Representative
Antonio Lico, Alternate

WORLD BANK
Doris Margolis, Primary Representative

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES/WASHINGTON, D.C.
Richard S. Carson, Primary Representative

Contact Information

Rotary International
External Relations (PR 210)
One Rotary Center
1560 Sherman Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201-3698 USA
ER Fax: +1 847 866 8237
ers@rotary.org

Christine Sanders
External Relations Specialist
Tel: +1 847 866 3254

About Rotary

AN ORGANIZATION OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL LEADERS· UNITED WORLDWIDE · 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE · MORE THAN 160 COUNTRIES · PROVIDING HUMANITARIAN SERVICE · BUILDING GOODWILL AND PEACE IN THE WORLD