Rotary Causes

Promoting Peace

We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life.

• Through our service projects, Rotary is taking action to bring about social change.

• We strengthen the leaders of today and empower the peacemakers of tomorrow at home and across the world.

• Rotary is not simply tackling the consequences which result from conflict, but addressing its fundamental causes.

• This means overcoming poverty, inequality and lack of access to education and key resources.

• Promoting peace is not a problem isolated to the developing world. In Great Britain and Ireland, Rotary clubs encourage understanding, diversity and compassion through a variety of activities at a local level.

Fighting Disease

Our health is the most important thing in our lives.

Health challenges are some of the biggest being faced by the human race, and Rotary members have been making bold and pioneering steps in tackling these challenges for decades.

• Diseases can not only cause pain to those suffering, but the implications for loved ones and communities as a whole can be devastating.

• Prevention of disease is incredibly important. With access to proper healthcare provision and treatment, we are able to live longer and happier lives.

A healthy community

In Great Britain and Ireland, Rotary is involved in supporting our most critical health problems.

• Many Rotary groups are involved in dementia care activities, such as funding dementia cafés which give those living with the disease, and their families, an environment to come together to share friendship and support.

• Our involvement with stroke and blood pressure awareness has been longstanding, with community events offering tens of thousands of members of the public free health checks, all run by Rotary volunteers.

• Each year, Rotary groups host and participate in the Rotary Ride, a nationwide cycling event held to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer, one of the biggest killers among men in the country.

Providing Clean Water

Water means life.

• Running water is something we often take for granted. But imagine if you did not have access to clean water at the turning of a tap. That is the reality for 1 in 10 people worldwide.

• Now imagine if you did not have access to an adequate toilet. That is the reality for 1 in 3 people worldwide.

• Rotary is committed to a sustainable approach to sanitation and hygiene. We don’t just build wells or toilets and walk away.

• Our projects educate communities to maintain functioning water systems and understand the importance of proper sanitation and hygiene practices.

• When children understand the process of disease transmission and good hygiene, schools and homes become healthier environments, meaning communities can develop and grow.

• When a mother does not have to walk for hours every single day to collect water, she has the opportunity to earn an income for her family.

That is the power of water.

Saving Mothers and Children

We protect mothers and their children to live and grow stronger.

• Mothers and their children can be some of the most vulnerable in our society.

• More than 800 women die every day as a result of complications during pregnancy and birth.

• Even after children are born, lack of access to healthcare, nutrition and clean water and put them at risk.

• In fact, 70% of deaths among children under the age of five happen within the first year of their life.

Supporting Education

Teaching and learning are powerful drivers to enable better futures.

• We believe education is a right, regardless of where you live or how old you are.

• Everyone should have the opportunity to learn, and those skills ripple through communities and change people’s lives.

Educating the world

• Worldwide, 250 million children don’t have basic reading or maths skills.

• Rotary projects and activities help to give children access to an education for the very first time.

• We build schools, we supply books and computers for classrooms and we train teachers.

• Our work is not just about children. Major problems exist in all age groups, with 17% of the world’s adult population being illiterate. That is 775 million people.

• We are dedicated to inspiring and facilitating learning at all ages.

• As a member of Rotary, you can educate and uplift students from across the globe, reduce gender disparity in education and inspire the next generation.

Growing Local Economies

We create opportunities and a chance for change.

• Rotary carries out service projects that enhance economic and community development and provide opportunities for decent and productive work for people both young and old.

• By focusing on economic and community development, we are able to break the cycle of poverty which cripples so many people around the world.

• Sustainable projects not only create an initial impact through training and equipment provision, but allow for ongoing skills development to last for generations.

• A crucial element of the work Rotary does is to strengthen the role of women and helping them become local entrepreneurs and community leaders.

Protecting the Environment

Preserving the planet we share together.

• We are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability and foster harmony between communities and the environment.

• We empower communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.

End Polio Now

Since 1985, Rotary’s key humanitarian priority has been to rid the world of polio.

• Rotary spearheaded the campaign at a time when there were over 1,000 polio cases a day in 125 countries, paralysing and even killing children.

• Today, the number of cases is down by 99.9%.

• Over the last 35 years, Rotary members, working with communities around the world, have contributed more than US$2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to the fight to end polio.

• Inspired in part by Rotary’s volunteer commitment and fundraising success, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched in 1988.

• This remarkable partnership which includes Rotary, World Health Organization, UNICEF, the US Center for Disease Control & Prevention and, more recently, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and GAVI the Vaccine Alliance. These organisations work alongside governments of the world to end polio.

• Because of the efforts of Rotary and our partners, nearly 19 million people who would otherwise have been paralysed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died.

• Despite there only being a handful of cases left in the world, continued campaigning, health worker training and vaccination programmes are essential to stop the disease returning and ensuring the world is certified polio-free. Over 400 million children still have to receive their polio vaccinations by the GPEI partners multiple times every single year in more than 50 countries.

• Rotary members continue to be key players in many aspects of the polio programme including on the ground in a number of countries as well as fundraising and advocacy.

• Failure to eradicate polio could result in as many as 200,000 new cases worldwide every year within a decade.

• Rotary members in Great Britain and Ireland have been huge supporters of End Polio Now and you can be part of making history.