R.I.P. Nelson Mandela
NELSON MANDELA TO RECEIVE ROTARY AWARD FOR WORLD UNDERSTANDING
Evanston, Illinois, May 7 - Rotary International World President Luis Vicente Giay announced this week that Rotary's highest honour - the Rotary Award for World Understanding - will be bestowed upon South African President Nelson Mandela.
The award will be presented at Rotary's international convention taking place this year in Glasgow, Scotland from 15-18 June.
Said Mr Giay, "We chose President Mandela because of his significant contributions to world peace, human rights and freedom. We believe his dedication to these ideals has provided inspiration and hope to many people. In particular, Rotarians greatly admire his effective work for peace and unity in the African continent, and deeply appreciate his strong support of the eradication of polio throughout Africa." One of Rotary's largest humanitarian projects in PolioPlus, a global health effort aimed at the eradication of polio.
Every year, the Rotary Award for World Understanding is given to an individual whose life or work exemplifies the Rotary ideal of service, especially in the promotion of international understanding, goodwill and peace. The award carries with it a grant of US$100,000 for contribution to a charitable project, chosen by the recipient, that promotes Rotary's mission of world understanding and peace.
In accepting the honour, President Mandela said, "It is an honour for me to be able to receive an award from Rotary International. It is gestures of this nature that have kept me in high spirits, and feeling that I still can make a contribution towards the building of national unity and the promotion of a spirit of reconciliation in our country."
President Mandela has earmarked the award money for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. The trust focuses on the plight of youth in need, and in particular on those who are homeless, those who have not had the benefit of formal education and those in detention or prison. Its genesis is unique in that it began in 1994 when President Mandela pledged one-third of his salary for five years as his contribution to found and perpetuate the fund.
Past winners of the Rotary Award for World Understanding have included Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Pope John Paul II, President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel and Dr. Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine.
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SOURCE Rotary International