About Rotary

• What is Rotary?
• A brief History of Rotary
• Mission Statement
• The Ideal of Rotary
• The Object of Rotary
• What are Rotary Projects?
• Polio Eradication
• The 4-way Test
• Declaration for Rotarians in Businesses and Professions

What is Rotary?

Rotary International is a worldwide organization of business and professional clubs, dedicated to high vocational standards, community service, and international understanding. To foster fellowship through diversity of interests, a Rotary club is composed of one representative of each business and profession in a community. Established in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, it now has its headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Rotary is the oldest service club organization in the world; in 1922 the name became Rotary International as clubs were organized in other countries.

Rotary International is comprised of more than 1.1 million men and women in nearly 27,000 Rotary clubs in 149 countries and 39 geographical regions. Membership is by invitation, and clubs determine their own service activities. Currently the organization is encouraging clubs to focus community activities on fighting hunger, illiteracy, and drug abuse, and helping the elderly and the environment. Clubs also may participate in the international programs of the Rotary Foundation, which administers privately funded scholarships and grants in order to accomplish large-scale, international humanitarian projects as well as smaller projects that are sponsored and partially funded by Rotary clubs or districts in two or more countries. Rotary International's PolioPlus program, in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), funds vaccine purchases and social mobilization activities in order to help eradicate polio worldwide by the year 2000. The organization also publishes an official periodical, The Rotarian in English and Revista Rotaria in Spanish.

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A brief History of Rotary

The first Rotary Club in the world was organized in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris, a young lawyer, who gathered together in a spirit of friendship and understanding, a group of men, each of whom was engaged in a different form of service to the public. That basis for membership - one person from each business and profession in the community - still exists in Rotary. At first, the members of the new club met in rotation at their various places of business and this suggested the name "Rotary".

Since 1905, the ideals of Paul Harris and his friends have become ideals which have been accepted by people of practically all nationalities and many political and religious beliefs. Today, there are Rotary clubs in Austria and American Samoa, in Brazil and Brunei, in India and Italy, in Scotland and South Africa, in 184 countries and geographical regions. The universal acceptance of Rotary principles has been so great that there are now more than 27.000 Rotary clubs, which have a membership of over 1.2 Mio.The general objectives of Rotary clubs in every country are the same, the development of fellowship and understanding among the business and professional leaders in the community, the promotion of community-betterment endeavors and of high standards in business and professional practices, and the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace. Rotary clubs everywhere have one basic ideal - "ideal of Service", which is thoughtfulness of and helpfulness to others.

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Mission Statement

The mission of Rotary International is to support its member clubs in fulfilling the Object of Rotary by:

• Fostering unity among member clubs;
• Strengthening and expanding Rotary around the world;
• Communicating worldwide the work of Rotary; and
• Providing a system of international administration.
  

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The Ideal of Rotary

"Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world."

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The Object of Rotary

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and in particular encourage and foster:

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What are Rotary Projects?

Rotary clubs participate in a broad range of humanitarian, intercultural, and educational activities designed to improve the human condition. Rotary’s humanitarian grants support club projects that provide health care and medical supplies, clean water, food, job training, youth development,
and education to millions of people in need — particularly in the developing world.

In addition, Rotary provides more than 200 grants each year to fund the work of Rotary volunteers, who travel to parts of the world where their technical expertise and knowledge
are most needed to alleviate hardship and solve problems.

The main objective of a Rotary Club is Service in the community, in the workplace and throughout the world.

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Polio Eradication

In 1985, Rotary launched PolioPlus, an ambitious program to immunize the world’s children against polio. Rotary’s grassroots leadership, volunteer support, and initial funding for vaccine provided the catalyst for the World Health Assembly’s resolution in 1988 to eradicate polio
worldwide. Spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are the World Health
Organization, Rotary International, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.
As a result of this partnership’s efforts, polio cases have dropped by 99 percent since 1988, and
the world stands on the threshold of eradicating the disease. Rotary members have given more than half-a-billion U.S. dollars and countless hands-on volunteer hours to this critical effort.

The savings to be realized from polio eradication are potentially as high as US$1.5 billion per year — funds that could be used to address other public health priorities. The savings in human suffering will be immeasurable.

Our fight against polio

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The 4-way Test

One of the most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics in the world is the Rotary "4-way Test". It was created by Rtn. Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 and was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than 1000 languages. The message should be known and followed by all Rotarians.

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Declaration for Rotarians in Businesses and Professions

The 1989 Council on Legislation adopted the following declaration for Rotarians in businesses and professions:

As a Rotarian engaged in a business or profession, I am expected to:

1. Consider my vocation to be another opportunity to serve;
2. Be faithful to the letter and to the spirit of the ethical codes of my vocation, to the laws of my country, and to the moral standards of my community;
3. Do all in my power to dignify my vocation and to promote the highest ethical standards in my chosen vocation;
4. Be fair to my employer, employees, associates, competitors, customers, the public, and all those with whom I have a business or professional relationship;
5. Recognize the honor and respect due to all occupations which are useful to society;
6. Offer my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community;
7. Adhere to honesty in my advertising and in all representations to the public concerning my business or profession;
8. Neither seek from nor grant to a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a business or professional relationship.

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