[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 699

[Garry & Anne Krischock]

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  1. 1354: One-on-one with Rotary's first female director-elect 
 Wed Sep 5, 2007 3:33 am (PST) 
First among equals

One-on-one with Rotary's first female director-elect 

Bettina Kozlowski, RI's former international editor, did this 
interview in French. It was translated by Alain Drouot, a senior 
translator-interpreter for Rotary International. 

----------------------------------------------------------

PROFILE: Catherine Noyer-Riveau

Age: 58
Spouse: Rotarian Jean-François Riveau, a retired navy officer and 
banker 
Children: Two sons, Thomas and Nicolas, and a daughter, Laurence 
Public offices: City councilor of L'Isle-Adam
Profession: Gynecologist with a private practice in L'Isle-Adam; 
director of the Center for Maternal and Infant Protection for abused 
children and women 
Year joined Rotary: 1991 
Current club: Rotary Club of Paris
Rotary offices: District governor, 1999-2000; International Assembly 
training leader, 2004 and 2005; Permanent Fund national adviser, 2005-
06; Major Gifts adviser, 2006-08 
Secret to success: Not sleeping. "When I'm really busy, my day starts 
at 8 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. And this doesn't even include Rotary. I 
can see 40 patients. I don't sleep much - about five hours - and this 
gives me a lot of strength."
----------------------------------------------------------

When Catherine Noyer-Riveau joins Rotary International's Board of 
Directors in July, she'll stand out among her peers for more than her 
Parisian flair. She is a true prima inter pares (first among equals), 
the only woman elected to the RI Board to date. Representing French-
speaking Zone 11 from 2008 to 2010, this third-generation Rotarian 
and practicing physician seeks consensus and cooperation. She 
concedes that her new title confers upon her some responsibility to 
carry the flag for gender equality, but she shies away from publicity 
and does not define herself as a feminist. In this interview with 
Bettina Kozlowski (translated from French), Noyer-Riveau says she 
simply sees herself as a Rotarian. And as such, she is determined to 
rely on the same strategy that's brought her this far: setting high 
standards - and exceeding them.

How does it feel to be the first female director-elect? 
Of course, I cannot say that I'm not happy and proud, but I really 
hope that I have been selected not because I'm a woman but because of 
my skills. I believe that you have to be quite careful and should not 
use gender to position yourself. After all, I represent a zone, and I 
want to serve Rotary.

How do you see your role as first female director? 
After I was nominated, I received e-mails from female Rotarians 
saying, "We're going to have a women's project." And my answer 
is, "No, we're going to have a Rotarian project." Whether we are men 
or women, it doesn't matter. I am a professional who wants to use her 
time to help others. In Rotary, I don't position myself as a "woman."

What will be your goals as a director?
To promote what Rotary stands for, what we can do to help other human 
beings, giving to others. Poverty will always exist, but we can do 
something to reduce it. Poverty is not only material; it can be 
intellectual. I witness this in my profession. Fighting illiteracy 
[among women] is one of my main priorities. Once women are literate, 
they will be able to control the number of children they have, and 
their lives will completely change. And everything will be done 
through women. It's already happening.

What is your strategy to reach these objectives? 
I have a bit of a strategy, a vision of where we want to be. Perhaps 
Rotarians have forgotten what Rotary is. In Europe, it's a real 
problem. People go to a Rotary club meeting like they go to play 
cards. Rotarians also have a hard time understanding The Rotary 
Foundation, which has great programs that can help us accomplish 
more. Instead of carrying out little projects, we can become part of 
large-scale projects, such as PolioPlus. Of course, we are helped by 
our spearheading partners, but in 1985, there were 1,000 cases of 
polio a day, and now we have only 2,000 cases a year. My brother had 
polio, so this is a subject close to home. We need to finish our work 
against polio, even if Rotarians are getting tired of hearing about 
it. Later, we can decide on another corporate focus. We can perhaps 
start thinking about another project, but it is absolutely necessary 
to win our fight against polio first.

Are you bothered by the attention you're getting? 
Yes, it is a bit uncomfortable. I would rather talk about Rotary in 
France, about Zone 11, than about being the first woman on the RI 
Board. It's not easy right now. It just happens that I am a woman, 
with no more and no less competence than others. I am proud to 
represent women. I still believe that I should not occupy the front 
of the stage. It was not my ambition to become director at this 
point, but opportunity knocked. You can see that in France in all 
areas - there is Ségolène Royal [who won 46.9 percent of the vote in 
the May presidential election] - and this is happening for a reason. 
I am convinced that I have a role to play in the promotion of women. 
I need to come to grips with it. I cannot stay too much in the 
shadows.

What were the arguments you presented to your zone's nominating 
committee?
I [told the committe] I want to uphold Rotary's timeless values, 
which are most important and necessary - mutual understanding and 
ethics, in particular, because as Rotarians, we are professionals who 
respect ethical standards and use our skills to help others. My 
motivation [also] was to promote francophonie and the French 
language. It's a good thing to know English, but we should also be 
proud to speak our own language.

How did you convince the committee to select you? 
[laughs] This is a good one, and I don't have an answer for you. 
Well, I have a lot of friends in Rotary, and I'm very dedicated to 
Rotary. I have visited a lot of districts, and the governors and 
[Zone 11] nominating committee members knew me already. I represented 
the RI president three times, and as an International Assembly 
training leader, I trained many Rotary officers. I was able to meet 
many people, who, I guess, started to talk about me. When you're a 
woman [in Rotary], you stand out in the crowd. If you're the only 
woman, even if you're not more brilliant than the others, you're the 
one people notice. Being a woman can be an advantage but also a 
drawback. After I was selected, some said, "So, now you have to wear 
a skirt to be selected." It's not very nice [laughs], but it's always 
like that. You can't stop people from making comments. How is Rotary 
part of your life? First of all, I have a special status in the club 
because I was "born" there. My grandfather and father were members of 
the Rotary Club of Paris. My father was a member for 52 years. When I 
was 14 or 15, he started to take us to Rotary events, which was very 
nice. In 1953, we went to the RI Convention in Paris, and I was 
holding my dad's hand. I always tell people, "You see, Rotary starts 
early."

Tell us about your career in Rotary. 
My husband [is] a member of the Rotary Club of L'Isle- Adam-Beaumont-
sur-Oise. [In 1990-91], the district governor, François Duviard-
Marsan, told my husband's club, "We're going to create mixed-gender 
clubs because we need women who are committed to their profession." 
Then, the club president, who is a friend of mine, said, "I know one 
who would be great." [So I became] a charter member of the Rotary 
Club of Paris-La Défense-Grande Arche in 1991.

What is the status of women in your current club, the Rotary Club of 
Paris? 
Our club has 252 members, and that includes 17 women. Need I say more?

Do you think Rotary has been slower than the rest of society to 
accept women in leadership roles? 
Chauvinism hasn't disappeared. We're still in a male-dominated 
environment. It's also true of society and of my profession. I 
remember being a victim of dirty tricks in medical school because I 
was a woman. Everything was done to discourage me. It was part of the 
game, not only in the medical profession but in other professions as 
well. This is why I would like to promote certain ethics. Rotary 
clubs are like elite fortresses. In France, the problem for Rotary is 
that the age of the average Rotarian is quite high. It will be 
different in 15 years because younger generations are used to working 
side by side with women, strong women.

So, you're saying that women in Rotary still face male chauvinism? 
I remember the RI Convention in Nice, [France], in 1995. I wore a 
white ribbon because I was a club president-elect. People would stop 
me and say, "So, we have women now in Rotary? And they can be club 
president?" For them, it was a revolution. Behaviors are changing 
because society is changing. My father is 90 and had a stonework 
company where there were no women. I wanted to study architecture, 
and he said, "I certainly hope that you don't want to become a female 
architect!" My father was against the admission of women in Rotary. 
[laughs] He was still a Rotarian when I joined the Rotary Club of 
Paris. He didn't vote against me, though. A sponsor who knew me since 
I was four or five also used to be against women in Rotary. It's 
interesting to be among those people now. My parents are very proud 
of me and attended the 7 February reception my club organized to 
celebrate my nomination.

Could you describe your professional life and the role it played in 
Rotary? 
I am an independent gynecologist with my own office. The reason I 
joined Rotary was to meet professionals in other fields. When you're 
a doctor, you cannot talk about personal problems to your patients or 
to your employees. You would appear weak. The only people you can 
confide in are other professionals. Rotary was the solution. It's 
part of Rotary's greatness to be able to meet professionals from a 
totally different world. You realize suddenly that you share the same 
preoccupations. It's one of Rotary's main strengths.

How has your husband's club reacted to your nomination?
My husband's club has 25 members. They don't recruit the same way, 
and they don't want any women. It wasn't easy for them to accept that 
I joined Rotary and moved up in the hierarchy. Now they're fine with 
it, but it's still a little complicated. People need to embrace 
change. It is going to change. It is changing. When you have an all-
male, small club, and spouses are very active, they become very 
defensive when suddenly there is a female Rotarian. They feel less 
worthy. It is now changing with their daughters.

What will you do after this interview?
I am going to have dinner. My husband isn't home because he's 
receiving a [Group Study Exchange] team from Gabon. The team leader 
is staying with us.

Would you consider becoming president of RI? 
Not at all. On the other hand, I never thought I would become 
director. So, who knows? 

This article originally appeared in the August 2007 issue of The 
Rotarian.

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary



2. 1355: A new look at global ethics and The Four-Way Test 
Wed Sep 5, 2007 7:58 pm (PST) 
A new look at global ethics and The Four-Way Test

By RI Director-elect Lars-Olof Fredriksson 

Moral codes and ethics give us tools but also raise questions to be 
answered: How should we live? What is morally good and bad, right and 
wrong? Shall we aim at happiness or knowledge? Virtue or the creation 
of beautiful objects? If we choose happiness, will it be our own or 
the happiness of all?

And what of the more specific questions that face us? Is it right to 
be dishonest for a good cause? Can we justify living in opulence 
while elsewhere in the world people are starving? Is going to war 
warranted in cases where innocent people will likely be killed?

Ethics deals with such questions at all levels. The subject's core 
consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and 
its major concerns include the nature of ultimate value and the 
standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.

For Rotary, The Four-Way Test is the cornerstone of all action. It 
has been for years, and it will be in the future. Of the things we 
think, say or do 

1) Is it the TRUTH?
2) Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

The test is one of the hallmarks of Rotary. Since it was developed in 
1932 by Herbert J. Taylor, who later became RI president, it has 
never ceased to be relevant. Its four brief questions are not based 
on culture or religion. Instead, they are a simple checklist for 
ethical behavior. They transcend generations and national borders.

As Rotarians, we should have The Four-Way Test in mind in every 
decision we make, all day long. Our utmost responsibility is to speak 
the truth, to be fair, to build goodwill and better friendships, and 
to do our very best in all situations.

Life is very turbulent today, and people all over the world are 
exhausted in their duties. Where are the dreams of a better world? 
Where are we? Who are we? What is our duty to ourselves, neighbors, 
and fellow citizens? Where are charity and our joint responsibility 
to humankind? 

Now more than ever, we need a vision and knowledge of what is 
happening around us, a new view of cultural and religious phenomena, 
without dividing humankind into limited and subjective categories. 
That's the tenet for a better world and a job for us Rotarians: not 
engaging in politics, but serving without any boundaries.

This happens through our programs, and it happens through acting as a 
guide for international coexistence, providing a forum for dialogue 
and discussion worldwide, giving perspective to views and models, 
finding new solutions using Rotarians' great knowledge and expertise, 
and having interfaith, multicultural, and ethical standards as 
guiding principles in all dealings.

No divine right can be vested in anyone to pronounce the final word 
or the ultimate truth. In matters of faith and religion, prescriptive 
morality should be avoided, as it often is the root cause of 
hostility and divisiveness. Global ethics is based on an interfaith 
mind and ecumenical way of living. 

The one universal, unsurpassed principle expressed by nearly every 
major religion and values system is similar to the golden rule: Do to 
others as you would have them do to you.

Today, it is especially confusing to determine what is really right 
and wrong. But the fundamentals of Rotary are bound to universal 
ethics and humanity without any boundaries between race, religion, or 
ethnic background. 

Rotary offers a possibility for solving ethical problems. Well-
trained, well-engaged in social life, and with strong consciences, 
Rotarians must try to address these issues through Rotary's 
vocational and community service programs. People all over the world 
need more safety, tolerance, understanding, and love. They want to 
live in peace.

Tolerance, fairness, respect, compassion, and hope are particularly 
needed today. But what are tolerance and fairness? Are they only a 
question of sharing resources, rights, and obligations, or more a 
question of an ongoing dialogue? For an effective discourse, we have 
to identify the real problems, discuss them, and try to find 
compromises. 

We should know what the human culture is made of, and what it means 
to different people and to the identity of other nationalities. The 
knowledge of other cultures, along with the skill to face the 
dissimilarities in our lives and lifestyles, seems to be a key point 
and the biggest issue.

Rotary, whose club members represent many cultures and religious 
beliefs and are committed to high ethical standards, can support 
mutual understanding and serve as a tool for peace. Rotarians and 
Rotary clubs all over the world - in small country towns and huge 
capitals, in the East and West, South and North - may provide 
enduring forums for peace discussions and together work for peace.

Lars-Olof Fredriksson, of the Rotary Club of Äänekoski, Finland, is a 
retired major in the Finnish air force and has a master's degree in 
political science.

Source: Rotary International
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
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