Rotary UN Day
More than 1,000 Rotarians, UN officials, Rotary youth program participants, and guests celebrated the special relationship between Rotary and the United Nations on 5 November.
Rotary-UN Day, held annually at United Nations headquarters in New York City, included panels on health, water, and literacy, highlighting Rotarian projects that advance the goals of the UN and improve lives around the world.
Kiyo Akasaka, UN undersecretary-general for
communications and public information, commended Rotary for its ongoing
collaboration with the United Nations to improve the health of children
worldwide, and for its contribution to polio eradication.
"Our shared vision for a safer and better world is
what brings us together here today," Akasaka said. "It's your model
of Service Above Self and your sterling results in improving health that makes
Rotary one of the most important partners of the UN."
Peace
and justice
Both organizations are striving to create a more peaceful
and just world, noted RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka.
"If you were to seek the one idea, the one goal that
is at the core of Rotary, you would find the same goal that you find in the
charter of the UN: to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one
another as good neighbors," Tanaka said.
Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations
Foundation and Better World Fund, stressed the importance of
partnerships.
"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognizes that every
problem the UN faces cannot be [solved] by the UN alone," he said, adding
that Rotary's "understanding and commitment to partnerships will make so
many of these goals we share possible."
Partnerships
Rotary is committed to partnering with organizations like
the UN, said John Hewko, RI general secretary.
"Rotary is learning by experience that it can
accomplish more in concert with others than it might on its own. Working
together multiplies our success: one plus one equals three," Hewko said.
"This new formula provides a unique opportunity to enhance humanitarian
service, which is what Rotary is all about. It helps build understanding and
peace -- the mission of Rotary and the UN."
Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, head of the Division of Women and
Child Health at Aga Khan University, discussed the strategic partnership
between the university and Rotary, and the challenges of promoting maternal and
child health in developing countries in Africa and parts of Asia.
More than 300,000 women die each year from complications
related to pregnancy and childbirth, Bhutta said. "Our biggest challenge
is reaching these poor women, families, and infants to give them adequate
health care."
"I believe we are at the beginning of the journey
with Rotary International to improve child and maternal health in the
hardest-to-reach places in Central and South Asia and Africa," he
added.
Other panelists during Rotary-UN Day included Jacob
Kumaresan, executive director of the World Health Organization, New York; Paul
Edwards, senior adviser for UNICEF on water, sanitation, and hygiene; Ginny
Wolfe, senior director of U.S. communications for the ONE Campaign; Philippe
Kridelka, director of UNESCO, New York; and Ron Denham, chair of the Water and
Sanitation Rotarian Action Group.
Rotary, which has a 66-year history with the UN, holds
the highest consultative status offered to any nongovernmental organization by
the Economic and Social Council, which oversees many UN agencies.