UN secretary-general meets with Rotary leaders

By Susie Ma
Rotary International News - 8 February 2008
Photos by Monika Lozinska-Lee/Rotary Images

RI President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson (left), greets UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right). Ban is a friend of RI President-elect Dong Kurn Lee (center).

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received the Rotary International Award of Honor at a private ceremony in Chicago. From left to right, RI President-elect Dong Kurn Lee, UN Secretary-General Ban, RI President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson, Foundation Trustee Chair Robert S. Scott, and RI General Secretary Edwin H. Futa.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Rotary leaders and praised Rotarians for their commitment to polio eradication in a recent visit to Chicago.

“Rotary International has led a worldwide campaign to wipe out polio. Sometime soon, their work will be done. Polio will be history, like smallpox,” Ban said in an address to the Economic Club of Chicago on 7 February.

At a private ceremony in downtown Chicago earlier in the day, Rotary International President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson presented Ban with the Rotary International Award of Honor in recognition of his support for polio eradication and his dedication to furthering peace and cross-cultural understanding. Past recipients of this high Rotary honor include Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Nelson Mandela.

The secretary-general also met with Foundation Trustee Chair Robert S. Scott, RI General Secretary Edwin H. Futa, and RI President-elect Dong Kurn Lee. Ban and Lee, both South Koreans, are friends.

Rotary's close ties with the UN date back to 1945 when 49 Rotarians helped draft the UN charter. Rotary continues to collaborate with the UN through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a partnership with the United Nation's Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

8 Comments:

At 10:30AM on 11 February 2008, Rotr Taritei kuroekigha wrote: The eradication of polio in africa have also go a long way throug the support of rotary intanational.we say thanks to Rotary and congrat to the un secretary-general.from Rotr Taritei kuroekigha district 9120 university of maduguri Nigeria.

At 9:23AM on 11 February 2008, Simon Sagala-Mulindwa, PHF wrote: This is a great begining for both Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN in general and RI Preseident-Elect Dong Kum Lee and Rotary International in particular, especially given that the two are old friends. It's a new beginning for the human race at a time when it needs both the UN and Rotary as its saviour.

At 2:50PM on 12 February 2008, amgad khalaf wrote: great

At 5:26PM on 12 February 2008, rtn.PHF.pp.s.sukumaran wrote: Rotary and UN partnership willsucceed.i am proud to be a rotarian

At 10:09AM on 18 February 2008, PDG. Dr.P.Narayana wrote: It is indeed great. The focus is now intensified further. I am sure the results will be positive

At 8:47AM on 18 February 2008, Dr.Essam Eldin Abdel-Azim wrote: In fact, Rotary is a real culture. In my country here we work with the government and WHO to fight against illetracy and also we make many medical campaigns to treat people from many diseases. We make operations free to many patients who cannot pay. I am really proud to be a member in Garden City, Rotary Club in district 2450.

At 8:30AM on 19 February 2008, Larry E. Barnes wrote: I was suprised and proud to learn that 49 Rotarians helped to draft the UN Charter. I had never heard that before.

At 11:16AM on 19 February 2008, Marlee Turner wrote: I am delighted that 49 Rotarians helped draft the United Nations Charter! My mother and sister volunteered at the new organization in the late 1940s. My father was President of Turner Construction Co, partner in Fuller, Turner, Walsh, and Slatery who constructed the United Nations Building in 1953. Congratulations to Dom Kum Lee as RI president elect and his friendship with Ban Ki-moon. Fryeburg ME , USA Rotary

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