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RI President 2021-22 Shekhar Mehta-
March 2022
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Dear Fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends,
We have overcome so many challenges these past two years and changed
numerous lives. It brings me great joy that we have worked so hard
this year to grow Rotary through the Each One, Bring One initiative.
The result has been excellent growth in membership. Let us keep
up the momentum. I am happy that you have put a spotlight on all
we do by organizing projects around the world in our Rotary Days
of Service. The future looks brighter than ever for Rotary and our
1.4 million members.
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19
constituted a pandemic, and two years later it is important that
we continue to draw on our expertise in our disease prevention and
treatment area of focus to help people worldwide cope with the continuing
challenges. The pandemic continues to defy all expectations, but
we cannot be frozen in fear. Our work is too important. It is also
important that we make time for each other, and I urge you to register
for the upcoming 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston.
It is a great way for all of us to safely celebrate Rotary service.
We can continue to build hope and spread peace in the world by using
our resources to help the most vulnerable and keeping our faith
in the future. The pandemic has had an especially devastating impact
on girls worldwide. On the first anniversary of the pandemic, Henrietta
Fore, the executive director of UNICEF, said that “immediate
action is needed to mitigate the toll on girls and their families.”
This need, unfortunately, remains just as strong a year later. The
ripples of the pandemic have affected girls in unique ways —
stunting their educational attainment, weakening their job prospects,
and contributing to other terrible results such as child marriages
and increased human trafficking.
Data from UNICEF reveals why our action is so essential. In the
2010s, important progress was made toward eliminating the practice
of child marriage, and UNICEF estimates that 25 million such marriages
were averted worldwide. Unfortunately, the pandemic reversed
those positive trends, and as a result an additional 10 million
girls are vulnerable to becoming child brides by the end of this
decade
.
This is why our focus on Empowering Girls is such vital work, and
I am delighted that at this year’s virtual International Assembly,
President-elect Jennifer Jones committed to continuing this initiative
for another year. In my travels, I have witnessed many wonderful
examples of club projects that back our Empowering Girls goals.
But all Rotary members know that real change requires big efforts
sustained over many years. This is the power of our global grants
and actions taken within our areas of focus.
I encourage clubs to think of innovative ways to empower girls when
designing their grant projects. Every step we take to improve education,
health care, and economic opportunities for girls makes an important
difference in helping them achieve their full potential. With opportunity
we create hope, and with hope we address the root causes of conflict
around the world, setting the stage for sustainable peace.
None of us know how long the COVID-19 virus will linger —
and as an organization that has worked tirelessly for decades to
eradicate polio, we understand better than most the difficult work
that lies ahead for the world. That is why we need to remain focused
on the future and on what is possible — not feeling nostalgic
for the way our lives were, but looking hopefully to a future that
uses this opportunity to Serve to Change Lives. I look
forward to continuing this good work with you.
Shekhar Mehta
President 2021-22
Trustee Chair's Message - February2022
John F.
Germ
Trustee Chair 2021-22
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Trustee chair's
message
In the mid-18th century, Benjamin Franklin wrote:
“When the well’s dry, we know the worth
of water.”
Right now, in the 21st century, many of us take water
for granted because we have been fortunate to live
in places where clean water is plentiful. But that’s
not the case for millions of others around the world.
The United Nations estimates that 2 billion people
— about 1 in 4 people on the planet —
lack safely managed drinking water. Just under half
of the world’s population lives without access
to safely managed toilets and sanitation systems,
and nearly a third lacks basic hand washing stations
with soap and clean water.
Isn’t it astounding that, in an age of instant
information and space tourism, we still haven’t
managed to guarantee the necessities of water, sanitation,
and hygiene (WASH) to so many?
Rotary is doing something about it; WASH projects
are among the most funded within our areas of focus:
Since 2014, Rotary clubs have carried out more than
2,100 global grants related to WASH by using $154
million in Foundation funding, impacting countless
people.
In addition, Rotary’s WASH alliance with USAID,
more than a decade strong, is considered Rotary’s
largest partnership outside of PolioPlus. Rotary and
USAID have committed a combined $18 million in WASH
funding to large-scale strategic efforts at the national
level in countries such as Ghana and Uganda. The partnership
unites the technical expertise of USAID’s development
professionals with the local leadership and advocacy
of Rotary members to find workable, sustainable WASH
solutions in hundreds of communities. You can learn
more at riusaidwash.rotary.org.
The theme of World Water Day, 22 March, is Groundwater:
Making the Invisible Visible. This is an opportune
time for clubs to learn more about WASH issues and
take action collectively to create and sustain momentum
for expanding access to universal WASH services.
Rotary members can bring attention to the WASH challenges
that impact us locally by sharing the stories, experiences,
and WASH needs of those we serve globally.
We can be proud of the work that Rotary clubs and
our Foundation continue to do to provide communities
with clean water and working sanitation and hygiene
systems. But let’s not stop there.
This month, let’s look out for our neighbors
around the world whose wells are running dry or who
lack toilets or soap. Rotary has the resources, partnerships,
and passion to improve WASH services for millions
in need worldwide. And most important, we have the
people who can make it work — you and me.
http://www.endpolio.org/donate.
John F. Germ
Trustee Chair 2021-22
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