Rotary Day at the United Nations

On a Saurday morning in early November for the past twnety years , the United Nations has hosted Rotarians at the Annual “Rotary International Day at the United Nations”. At this annual conference, Rotarians take the opportunity to examine the working partnership between Rotary and the United Nations in alleviating global poverty. This past November,  1600 attendees hailed from  forty-four countries and twenty-seven states and included all the Rotary International Directors including President Lee.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, was scheduled to address the con-ference but had to unexpectedly travel to Nairobi, Kenya for the African Union Regional Summit on the conflict situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. His welcoming letter was read by Mr. Kim Won-soo who has been the Deputy Chef de Cabinet since January2007 and assistant to the Secretary-General.

Dear Rotary International President Lee and Rotarians :

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to the United Nations. It is always a pleasure to host Rotary International. We share your commitment to securing global public goods, and we value the energy you bring to global challenges. Ours is a good, long-standing partnership. Today we need your hard work more than ever.

Earlier this year, I started speaking about what I describe as “a people crisis”. Soaring prices for food and fuel, accelerating climate change, and stalled development for the world’s poorest people, are some thoughts I was eager to raise. Today, we see that if anything, it was an understatement. The global financial crisis has brought an additional shock compounding all the others. Although it may have receded from the headlines, the food crisis is still very much with us. Food and fertilizer prices are two times as high as they were one year ago. Climate change is worse with every passing day and some ask how we can take steps to prevent climate change in the middle of this financial crisis. But given the situation we can create green-jobs and spur investment. I ask, how we can offer not to.

And progress toward the Millennium Development Goals has been uneven; many countries are falling behind especially in Sub-Sahara Africa. We hear about of how our problems on Wall Street affect people on Main Street. We also need to think about people around the world even with no streets at all.

Partnerships will be crucial as we move ahead. The United Nations attaches great importance to close ties with Rotary International, and is grateful to the contributions you have made to global health, education and poverty eradication efforts. We also look forward to working with the administration of the new President Elect Obama, who has spoken often of the importance of diplomacy, international cooperation, and especially strong United Nations. Together we must deliver results for a safer, healthier, and a more prosperous world. It is encouraging to know that the United Nations will continue to be able to count on Rotary International to do its part.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary-General of the United Nations

The International Service Division of the New York Rotary Club has created a newsletter/blog to demonstrate the commitment and continuing support of Rotary to the United Nations and its Millennium Development Goals. For a thorough report on the recent UN conferences and the history of the Rotary-UN relationship, go to: http://nyrotaryunitednations.blogspot.com/

To learn about the UN Millenium Campaign to www.endpoverty2015.org.

Fore more information on the 2008 UN Day findings, click on the link.

Photo credit:  Rotary Images/Alyce Henson