About Rotary International
The first Rotary Club was formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1905 by lawyer Paul Harris. It became the world’s first humanitarian service organisation. The name ‘Rotary’ arose as a result of the first meetings being held in rotation at members’ workplaces.
There are now approximately 1.3 million Rotarians working in 29,000 Rotary Clubs in 62 countries. Rotary brings together a cross-section of local business and professional people. Originally a men’s organisation, Rotary International admitted women in 1987 and they are now the fastest growing segment of Rotary’s membership.
Through the Rotary Foundation, extensive financial and humanitarian support is provided for international healthcare, for food and supplies to disaster areas, for education and job training programmes.
PolioPlus Programme
Rotary International initiated the PolioPlus Programme in 1985 and over one billion children have been immunised to date as part of Rotary’s target to eliminate polio.
PolioPlus is the most ambitious program in Rotary's history and is the volunteer arm of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. For more than 25 years, Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease. Today, PolioPlus and its role in the initiative is recognized worldwide as a model of public-private co-operation in pursuit of a humanitarian goal.
To date, Rotary has contributed more than US$1 billion.
Rotary’s leadership, beginning in 1985, inspired the World Health Assembly to pass a resolution to eradicate polio, which paved the way for the formation of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.
Thousands of Rotarians around the world have volunteered during National Immunization Days to immunize children.
The PolioPlus program helps Rotary fund operational costs, such as transportation, vaccine delivery, social mobilization, and training of health workers, and support surveillance activities.
Rotarians work to encourage both donor and polio-affected governments to commit the political and financial resources needed to eradicate polio.
Some of our projects
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