[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 739

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

 Messages In This Digest (2 Messages) 
  1. 1413: RI  Statement by RI Pres and TRF Chairman on partnership with G From: Sunil K Zachariah 

  2. 1414: RI Media Release on Partnership with Gates Foundation From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Messages 
  1. 1413: Jt Statement by RI Pres and TRF Chairman on partnership with G 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:17 pm (PST) 
A historic day for Rotary 

Wilfrid J. Wilkinson, Rotary International, President 2007-08 

Robert S. Scott, The Rotary Foundation, Trustee Chair 2007-08 
Dear Fellow Rotarians, 

This is a historic day for Rotary. It is our great pleasure to inform 
you of a new partnership between Rotary International and the Bill & 
Melinda Gates Foundation that will provide a much needed US$200 
million in support of our top goal of a polio-free world. 
The Gates Foundation has awarded The Rotary Foundation a challenge 
grant of $100 million, which Rotary will match, dollar for dollar, 
over three years. This is the largest single grant ever given to a 
volunteer service organization and represents a tremendous validation 
of the approach and success of our PolioPlus program. 

This partnership comes at a critical juncture for the polio 
eradication initiative, which needs an infusion of funds to reach the 
eradication goal. For this reason, the initial $100 million will be 
distributed by The Rotary Foundation through grants to the World 
Health Organization and UNICEF in direct support of polio 
immunization activities in 2008. 

Your participation in this effort is crucial to making it a success. 
The Rotary International Board of Directors and the Trustees of The 
Rotary Foundation have unanimously agreed to accept this challenge 
grant to ensure the success of the PolioPlus program. We feel 
confident that this extraordinary commitment from the Gates 
Foundation and Rotary will serve as a catalyst for further donations 
from others to help us realize the dream of a polio-free world. 

In 1985, we promised every child a world free from the threat of 
polio, and we are almost there. This funding agreement between Rotary 
and the Gates Foundation is a huge step forward, bringing us even 
closer to our goal. Success is our only option. 

Wilfrid J. Wilkinson Robert S. 
Scott 

Rotary International, President 2007-08 The Rotary Foundation, 
Trustee Chair 2007-08 


2. 1414: RI Media Release on Partnership with Gates Foundation 
Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk   sunilkzach 
Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:20 pm (PST) 
Rotary International and Gates Foundation together commit $200 
million to eradicate polio 

EVANSTON, Ill., U.S.A. (Nov. 26, 2007) -- Rotary International today 
announced a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that 
will inject a much-needed US$200 million into the global campaign to 
eradicate polio, a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that still 
paralyzes children in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East and 
threatens children everywhere. 

The Rotary Foundation has received a $100-million Gates Foundation 
grant, which Rotary will raise funds to match, dollar-for-dollar, 
over three years. The Evanston-based volunteer service organization 
will spend the initial $100 million within one year in direct support 
of immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio 
Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a partnership spearheaded by the World 
Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF.

"The extraordinary dedication of Rotary members has played a critical 
role in bringing polio to the brink of eradication," says Bill Gates, 
co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Eradicating polio 
will be one of the most significant public health accomplishments in 
history, and we are committed to helping reach that goal."

The polio eradication grant is one of the largest challenge grants 
ever given by the Gates Foundation and the largest grant received by 
Rotary in its 102-year history. Polio eradication has been Rotary's 
top priority since 1985. Since then, Rotary has contributed $633 
million to the eradication effort.

"Rotary members worldwide have worked very hard over the years to 
reach this point, and it is rewarding to see our approach validated 
in such a significant way by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," 
says Dr. Robert Scott, who leads Rotary's polio eradication effort 
and chairs The Rotary Foundation, the not-for-profit charitable arm 
of Rotary that will administer the grant. "We hope that this shared 
commitment of Rotary and the Gates Foundation will challenge other 
donors - including foundations, governments and non-governmental 
organizations - to step up and make sure we have the resources needed 
to rid the world of polio once and for all."

Adds Rotary International President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson: "This 
endorsement of Rotary's polio eradication efforts by the Bill & 
Melinda Gates Foundation is just the catalyst and challenge Rotary 
members need to keep our promise to the children of the world that 
polio will be eradicated."

The Gates Foundation grant comes at a crucial juncture for the 
initiative, which urgently needs an infusion of funds to reach the 
eradication goal. Although the GPEI has succeeded in slashing the 
number of polio cases by 99 percent over the past two decades, the 
wild poliovirus still persists in four countries: Afghanistan, India, 
Nigeria and Pakistan. The polio cases represented by that final one 
percent are the most costly to prevent due to such factors as 
geographical isolation, worker fatigue, low coverage with the 
vaccine, armed conflict and cultural barriers.

Last month, WHO released data confirming that all four remaining 
polio-endemic countries are on track to achieve eradication. In 
particular, significant progress has been made in India and Nigeria, 
which together account for 85 percent of the world's polio cases. 
Nigeria has reported 226 cases so far this year, compared with 958 at 
the same time last year. In both countries, more effective oral polio 
vaccines have contributed to steady progress in reducing polio cases. 

WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan says the Gates Foundation 
grant reaffirms that polio eradication is both feasible and 
achievable. "This investment is precisely the catalyst we need as we 
intensify the push to finish polio," said Chan. "We have the 
technical tools to do it, and we can achieve a polio-free world if 
the rest of our financial partners step up to meet the challenge."

Most of the initial $100 million will be spent in support of mass 
immunization campaigns in polio-affected countries, poliovirus 
surveillance activities and community education and outreach. The 
grant will also support an expanded research agenda on ways to halt 
the spread of the poliovirus. Rotary will distribute the funds 
through grants to WHO and UNICEF.

"The funds made possible through the Gates Foundation grant will help 
the Global Polio Eradication Initiative scale up its efforts to 
provide oral polio vaccine to children in those isolated locations 
where it's most needed," says UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. 
Veneman. "This important contribution will improve the capacity to 
protect vulnerable children from this debilitating disease."

CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding says the collaboration between 
Rotary and the Gates Foundation underscores the importance of private 
sector involvement in major public health efforts. "As a government 
agency, we think it's wonderful that our private-sector colleagues 
have taken a leadership role in something as important as polio 
eradication. Their participation is absolutely critical."

Founded in Chicago in 1905, Rotary is a worldwide organization of 
business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service 
and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. Rotary's global 
membership is approximately 1.2 million men and women who belong to 
more than 32,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and 
geographical areas. 

Source: RI Newsroom
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

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