100 YEARS CELEBRATION OF THE ROTARY FOUNDATION. November 20, 2016 (2016-11)

On the auspicious occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Rotary Foundation, Rotary District Governor 2016-17 Mir Arif Ali called for a extra special recognition commemorating the occasion. The idea of a Postage stamp that would go down in history and remain one of the high points of The Rotary Foundation Centennial Celebration Year.

THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL AND THE ROTARY FOUNDATION

Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated human rights purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a secular organization open to all people regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, gender, or political preference. There are over 35,000 member clubs worldwide. 1.2 million individuals called Rotarians have joined these clubs in over 200 Countries and geographical regions.

OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT

Rotarians have not only been present for major events in history - we've been a part of them. From the beginning, three key traits have remained strong throughout Rotary:

We're truly international. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Today we're working together from around the globe both digitally and in-person to solve some of our world's most challenging problems.

What is ROTARACT ?

Rotaract is a club for adults ages 18-30 that meets twice a month to exchange ideas, plan activities and projects, and socialize. While Rotary clubs serve as sponsors, Rotaract clubs decide how to organize and run their club and what projects and activities to carry out.

What is INTERACT?

Interact is a club for young people ages 12-18 who want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they care most about. Through Interact, you can:

Ø  Carry out hands-on service projects

Ø  Make international connections

Ø  Develop leadership skills

Ø  Have fun!

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION 100 YEARS OF DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD

At the 8th annual convention of the Rotary International held at Atlanta Georgia in June 1917, then President Arch C. Klumph proposed a Rotary endowment fund "for the purpose of doing good in the It is the Foundation that, in the words of Rotary International President John Germ. "turned Rotary from an organization of local clubs into an international force for good with the power to change the world". Thanks to Klumph's vision and staunch advocacy and the extraordinary generosity of Rotary members worldwide, the fund has become one of the world's leading humanitarian foundations, supportings the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding through international humanitarian and cultural exchange programs.

Programs:

Polio Eradication

The role that the Rotary Foundation has played in the eradication of Polio worldwide cannot be overstated. It is the leading success story in humanity's battle against a crippling and fatal disease. Since the Polio Plus program's inception in 1985, over 2 billion children received oral Polio vaccine and today only Pakistan and Afghanistan are to attain Polio-free status. Beside its mega success against the Polio menace, the foundation supports disaster recovery program, program to improve health, alleviate hunger, and promote human development.

The Rotary foundation runs the world's largest non-governmental international scholarships program, now funded by district and global grants offered directly through Rotary clubs. Through the Rotary Peace fellowships program, up to 100 fellows are selected annually in a globally competitive process to earn a master's level degree or a professional level certificate in peace and conflict studies at one of six Rotary Peace Centre at leading universities in Australia, Britain, Sweden, Japan, the U.S and Thailand.

AREAS OF FOCUS

We have identified specific causes to target to maximize our local and global impact. At the same time, we understand that each community has its own unique needs and concerns.

Through global grants and other resources, we help clubs focus their service efforts in the following areas.

PROMOTING PEACE

Today, 65 million people are displaced by armed conflict or persecution. Through our partnerships with several leading universities, Rotary Peace Fellows develop the skills to strengthen peace efforts, train local leaders to prevent and mediate conflict, and support long-term peace building in areas affected by conflict. We provide up to 100 peace fellowships per year at Rotary Peace Centres.

FIGHTING DISEASE

More than 100 million people are pushed into poverty each year because of medical costs. We aim to improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in underdeveloped areas. Our members educate and mobilize communities to help prevent the spread of major diseases such as polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. Many of our projects ensure that medical training facilities are located where the workforce lives. world". This was the acorn from which grew the great oak of the Rotary Foundation whose century a grateful world celebrates in 2017.

PROVIDING CLEAN WATER

More than 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation facilities. At least 3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water. Our projects give communities the ability to develop and maintain sustainable water and sanitation systems and support studies related to water and sanitation.

SAVING MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

At least 7 million children under the age of five die each year due to malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. To help reduce this rate, we provide immunizations and antibiotics to babies, improve access to essential medical services, and support trained health care providers for mothers and their children. Our projects ensure sustainability by empowering the local community to take ownership of health care training programs.

SUPPORTING EDUCATION

Sixty-seven million children worldwide have no access to education and more than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.

GROWING LOCAL ECONOMIES

Nearly. 1.4 billion employed people live on less than $1.25 a day. We carry out service project that enhance economic and community development and develop opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also help strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.

The Rotary Foundation is grateful to the Prime Minister and the Pakistan Post, Government of Pakistan who in recognition of the good work Rotary has done in Pakistan and the World approved the idea of Publishing a commemorative stamp on the occasion of the completion of 100 Years of the Rotary Foundation.

On Celebration of 100 years of the Rotary Foundation, a Commemorative Postage Stamp of Rs.8/- denomination is being issued by Pakistan Post on November 20, 2016.