Rotarians have the determination, the experience, and the professional know-how to take on some of the world’s biggest challenges in some of the world’s most remote areas.
Ten U.S. Rotarians were honored as Champions of Change at the White House for their exemplary local and international humanitarian work. More than 160 Rotarians attended the event in Washington, D.C.
RI President Kalyan Banerjee presents Afghan President Hamid Karzai with a medal in recognition of Karzai's support for polio eradication. Banerjee is the first RI president to visit Afghanistan. During their 45-minute meeting, the two discussed how lessons learned from India's success might be applied in Afghanistan.
Rotaractor Andrea Tirone and Interactor Kiara Vallier were among 120 young adults who met with Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in Ottawa, Canada. They were invited to meet the royal couple because of their dedication to humanitarian service.
RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka hears reassuring words from Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda regarding Japan's continued support of polio eradication, Rotary's top priority.
Ghulam Nabi Azad (far right), India's minister of health and family welfare, visits Rotary World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, to discuss India's progress toward polio eradication with Rotary leaders and staff, including International PolioPlus Committee Chair Robert S. Scott, RI President Kalyan Banerjee, and Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair William Boyd.
Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, joins dozens of Rotarians on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on World Polio Day, 24 October, to affirm the joint commitment of the Gates Foundation and Rotary to eradicate the disease. Rotary's work as a spearheading partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is creating a model for tackling other global health problems, such as malaria, measles, and lack of clean water.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee, of Liberia, addresses Rotary Peace Fellows, Rotarians, and Rotary Foundation alumni at the Rotary World Peace Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2003, Gbowee mobilized women across religious and ethnic lines to bring an end to Liberia's long and bloody civil war.
RI representatives to the United Nations Michel P. Jazzar (Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) and Richard S. Carson (Organization of American States) confer between panel presentations during Rotary-UN Day in New York City.