Rotary is dedicated to causes that build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.
Supporting Education
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.
Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.
Providing Clean Water
When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families.
Improving Maternal & Child Health
We expand access to quality care, so mothers and children everywhere can have the same opportunities for a healthy future. In 2020, an estimated 5 million children under the age of 5 years died, mostly from preventable and treatable causes. Approximately half of those deaths, 2.4 million, occurred among newborns (in the first 28 days of life). The leading causes of death in children under 5 years can all be prevented or treated with access to affordable interventions in health and sanitation.
Fighting Disease & Ending Polio
Disease results in misery, pain, and poverty for millions of people worldwide. That’s why treating and preventing disease is so important to us. We lead efforts both large and small. We set up temporary clinics, blood donation centers, and training facilities in underserved communities struggling with outbreaks and health care access. We design and build infrastructure that allows doctors, patients, and governments to work together.
Growing Local Economies
Nearly 800 million people live on less than $1.90 a day. Rotary members are passionate about providing sustainable solutions to poverty.
Our members and our foundation work to strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
We provide training and access to well-paying jobs and financial management institutions.
Protecting the Environment
We work with communities to implement service projects that improve the environment and transform lives. Thriving ecosystems can support people’s health, create economic opportunities, and help build peace.
Through Rotary and the United Nations Environment Programme Community Action for Fresh Water initiative, Rotary clubs can protect, restore, and sustain their local freshwater ecosystems. Interested in getting involved? Visit communityactionforfreshwater.org to find out what other clubs are doing and learn how your club can act today.
Promoting Peace
As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.
Our commitment to peacebuilding today answers new challenges: how we can make the greatest possible impact and how we can achieve our vision of lasting change. We are approaching the concept of peace with greater cohesion and inclusivity, broadening the scope of what we mean by peacebuilding, and finding more ways for people to get involved.
