President’s Message - November 2019

Dear fellow Rotarians and members of the family of Rotary,

Rotary Day at the United Nations, which we celebrate each November, is an important reminder of the historic relationship between our organizations. But this year’s event is even more important than usual, because we are building up to the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in June 2020.

You might ask, why celebrate this anniversary? For Rotary, it is entirely appropriate, because we played such a critical leadership role in the San Francisco Conference that formed the United Nations in 1945. Throughout WorldWar II, Rotary published materials about the importance of forming such anorganization to preserve world peace.

Not only did Rotary help influence the formation of the UN, but thismagazine also played a leading part in communicating its ideals. Rotaryeducated members about plans to create the UN through numerous articlesin The Rotarian and through a booklet titled From Here On! When the timecame to write the UN charter, Rotary was one of 42 organizations theUnited States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the SanFrancisco Conference.

Each organization had seats for three representatives, so Rotary International’s 11 representatives served in rotation. The people officiallyrepresenting Rotary included the general secretary, the current and severalpast presidents, and the editor of The Rotarian. In addition, Rotarians fromAfrica, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America served asmembers of or consultants to their own nations’ delegations.

We have a deep and lasting relationship with the UN that deserves to becelebrated and appreciated. To recognize this relationship, Rotary will hostfive special events between now and June: Rotary Day at the UN in NewYork on the 9th of this month; three presidential conferences next year in Santiago, Chile, in Paris, and inRome; and a final celebration just before the Rotary International Convention in Honolulu.

The focus on the UN in the year ahead is not only about the past; it also lights a path to our future. Thereare so many parallels between the work we do through our areas of focus and the work of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. While those goals are indeed incredibly ambitious, they provide inspiration anddirection — and are similar to many Rotary goals, which have proven to create lasting, positive change inour world. The goals can be achieved, but only if undertaken with the same long-term commitment andtenacity that Rotary understands so well. Alone, we cannot provide clean water for all, we cannot eliminatehunger, we cannot eradicate polio. But together with partners like the United Nations, of course we can.

Please consider attending one of our five UN celebrations. I look forward to sharing news of these specialevents with you throughout the year.