Rotary Making a Difference
Content from Rotary District 9970’s Newsletter
(Abridged)
Rotary’s recent first-ever virtual convention attracted more than 60,000 registrants and 175,000 viewers during its week-long program at which a number of world leaders and partner organizations spoke about how we are all coming together to help each other through the pandemic.
In a video address, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said we need to work together to find solutions to the problems that are weakening our societies.
“Your [Rotary’s] efforts have made a significant difference in eradicating polio, in strengthening communities around the globe, in alleviating the suffering of vulnerable populations, and in building a safer, healthier, and more peaceful world,” Guterres said.
A panel of global health experts also discussed how the infrastructure that Rotary and its partners use for polio eradication has helped communities tackle the needs that have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Christopher Elias, president of the Global Development Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said that:
“In pretty much every country where the polio eradication initiative is active, which is over 50 countries, those assets have been dedicated to the COVID-19 response. The world is benefiting, particularly in the poorest countries where we’ve been chasing down the last cases of polio; we’re greatly benefitting from the infrastructure that (Rotary’s) polio initiative has built over the last three decades.”