Rotary, UN celebrate common goals
Posted by Peter Stam
Rotary Day at the United Nations in New York.
Our Woodstock-Oxford Rotary Club was well represented at the Rotary Day at the United Nations.
Present were:
Doug Vincent, Rama, Omar and Lata Murthi, Tim Koetsier, Klaas Dekker and Peter Stam.
Friday afternoon we had the privilege to meet with the Canadian Ambassador as he explained the work he is doing, and there was a chance to ask questions.
Saturday we went to the United Nations building, we had quite a time to get there because the people were practising for the New York Marathon.
This event was well worth going to as we learned a bit more how the United Nations and Rotary work together with their common goals.
Given that the top focus topics of Rotary International are: water, literacy, polio, and hunger; we found out these are issues related to the 8 UN Development goals:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Following are some of the highlights.
In Tanzania, villagers buy mosquito nets through a Rotarian-supported program that aligns with the United Nations' goal to reduce malaria.
In Kenya, families build Rotarian-funded rainwater collection tanks, complementing UN efforts to prevent deaths, especially among children, linked to poor sanitation.
In Romania, farmers receive heifers through an effort backed by a Rotary Foundation grant that goes hand in hand with the UN goal to fight hunger.
Our Woodstock-Oxford Rotary Club was well represented at the Rotary Day at the United Nations.
Present were:
Doug Vincent, Rama, Omar and Lata Murthi, Tim Koetsier, Klaas Dekker and Peter Stam.
Friday afternoon we had the privilege to meet with the Canadian Ambassador as he explained the work he is doing, and there was a chance to ask questions.
Saturday we went to the United Nations building, we had quite a time to get there because the people were practising for the New York Marathon.
This event was well worth going to as we learned a bit more how the United Nations and Rotary work together with their common goals.
Given that the top focus topics of Rotary International are: water, literacy, polio, and hunger; we found out these are issues related to the 8 UN Development goals:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Following are some of the highlights.
In Tanzania, villagers buy mosquito nets through a Rotarian-supported program that aligns with the United Nations' goal to reduce malaria.
In Kenya, families build Rotarian-funded rainwater collection tanks, complementing UN efforts to prevent deaths, especially among children, linked to poor sanitation.
In Romania, farmers receive heifers through an effort backed by a Rotary Foundation grant that goes hand in hand with the UN goal to fight hunger.
These stories were highlighted during Rotary-UN Day at UN headquarters in New York City as ways Rotarians are helping the United Nations advance its goals to improve lives around the world. Held annually, the occasion celebrated the organizations' 62-year partnership.
More than 1,300 Rotarians, UN officials, Interactors, and Rotaractors from 48 countries attended the day of panel discussions on water, literacy, health, and hunger on 3 November.
Rotary's relationship with the UN dates back to 1945, when 49 Rotarians acted as delegates, advisers, and consultants at the conference that founded the global association of governments.
Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status offered to any nongovernmental organization by the Economic and Social Council, which oversees many specialized UN agencies.
"Ever since the United Nations was founded, you have been a wonderful partner to our organization," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said to Rotarians in remarks delivered by Kim Won-soo, deputy chef de cabinet and special adviser.
"You have worked with the UN for health, literacy, and poverty eradication. You have promoted peace through your exchange programs.
You have helped people understand what the UN is, what it does, and what it can do."
Ban and Kiyotaka Akasaka, UN undersecretary-general for communications and public information, praised Rotary for working on the UN Millennium Development Goals, which aim to slash poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and other social ills by 2015.
But more work is needed, Akasaka said.
"It is intolerable that 72 million children are not in primary school. Maternal health remains a scandal, and HIV is growing faster than treatments can be made available," he explained, adding that climate change threatens to undermine work toward all the goals.
Progress is being made, though, according to speakers featured throughout the day.
Stephen Nicholas, a member of the Rotary Club of Yonkers, New York, and a professor at Columbia University Medical Center's Department of Pediatrics, said better, cheaper medication and intervention during pregnancy has almost completely diminished the number of HIV-infected infants at the clinic he founded in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.
Nicholas has also helped develop a family AIDS program in the Dominican Republic.
Now a World Community Service project, it aims to reduce the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmissions and the number of AIDS orphans.
During a panel discussion on water, John Boot, of the Rotary Club of Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, described how Kenyan villagers have built 1200 concrete water tanks and planted 120.000 trees as a natural purifier.
In a health panel, Brian Stoyel, of the Rotary Club of Saltash, Cornwall, England, said posters encouraging Tanzanians to buy mosquito netting below cost have reduced malaria by 64 percent in targeted areas.
Two billion additional nets are still needed in East Africa, however, said Melanie Renshaw, UNICEF senior health adviser.
More than 1,300 Rotarians, UN officials, Interactors, and Rotaractors from 48 countries attended the day of panel discussions on water, literacy, health, and hunger on 3 November.
Rotary's relationship with the UN dates back to 1945, when 49 Rotarians acted as delegates, advisers, and consultants at the conference that founded the global association of governments.
Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status offered to any nongovernmental organization by the Economic and Social Council, which oversees many specialized UN agencies.
"Ever since the United Nations was founded, you have been a wonderful partner to our organization," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said to Rotarians in remarks delivered by Kim Won-soo, deputy chef de cabinet and special adviser.
"You have worked with the UN for health, literacy, and poverty eradication. You have promoted peace through your exchange programs.
You have helped people understand what the UN is, what it does, and what it can do."
Ban and Kiyotaka Akasaka, UN undersecretary-general for communications and public information, praised Rotary for working on the UN Millennium Development Goals, which aim to slash poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, and other social ills by 2015.
But more work is needed, Akasaka said.
"It is intolerable that 72 million children are not in primary school. Maternal health remains a scandal, and HIV is growing faster than treatments can be made available," he explained, adding that climate change threatens to undermine work toward all the goals.
Progress is being made, though, according to speakers featured throughout the day.
Stephen Nicholas, a member of the Rotary Club of Yonkers, New York, and a professor at Columbia University Medical Center's Department of Pediatrics, said better, cheaper medication and intervention during pregnancy has almost completely diminished the number of HIV-infected infants at the clinic he founded in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.
Nicholas has also helped develop a family AIDS program in the Dominican Republic.
Now a World Community Service project, it aims to reduce the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmissions and the number of AIDS orphans.
During a panel discussion on water, John Boot, of the Rotary Club of Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, described how Kenyan villagers have built 1200 concrete water tanks and planted 120.000 trees as a natural purifier.
In a health panel, Brian Stoyel, of the Rotary Club of Saltash, Cornwall, England, said posters encouraging Tanzanians to buy mosquito netting below cost have reduced malaria by 64 percent in targeted areas.
Two billion additional nets are still needed in East Africa, however, said Melanie Renshaw, UNICEF senior health adviser.