Sakuji Tanaka, a member of the Rotary Club of Yashio, Saitama, Japan, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International in 2012-13. Tanaka will become the president-nominee on 1 October if there are no challenging candidates.

Tanaka said he would like to see Rotary "continue its vital work as the force to improve our communities."

To do this work, Rotary needs active, involved clubs, he added. "We are fortunate to have our revised RI Strategic Plan to help build strong clubs that are vibrant, action-oriented, and relevant in the changing world."

For 32 years, Tanaka was president of Tanaka Company Ltd., a wholesale firm that went public in 1995 and later merged with other leading wholesalers in Japan. Currently, he serves as vice president of the Yashio City Chamber of Commerce and adviser to Arata Co. Ltd., an animal feed and pet food wholesaler. He also chaired the National Household Papers Distribution Association of Japan for eight years. Tanaka studied business at Nihon Management Daigakuin and Tokyo Management Daigakuin.

Currently a trustee of The Rotary Foundation, Tanaka chaired the 2009 Birmingham Convention Committee. His other service to Rotary includes RI director, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, district governor, and member of the Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force, the Permanent Fund Committee for Japan, and the Future Vision Committee.

Tanaka established an endowed Rotary Peace Fellowship, and he and his wife, Kyoko, are Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors of the Permanent Fund, and Major Donors.

He is a recipient of RI’s Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award.

Tanaka said that eradicating polio will "fulfill the promise we made to children in the world" and that "there is no doubt in my mind that the day of this success will be realized in the near future."

Tanaka and Kyoko have three children and five grandchildren.

The 2010 nominating committee members are John F. Germ, USA (chair); Monty J. Audenart, Canada; Keith Barnard-Jones, England; Peter Bundgaard, Denmark; Frank C. Collins Jr., USA; Rudolf Hörndler, Germany; Jackson San-Lien Hsieh, Taiwan; Umberto Laffi, Italy; Ashok M. Mahajan, India; Gerald A. Meigs, USA; Paul A. Netzel, USA; Samuel A. Okudzeto, Ghana; Kazuhiko Ozawa, Japan; Noraseth Pathmanand, Thailand; Themistocles A.C. Pinho, Brazil; Barry Rassin, Bahamas; and Barry E. Thompson, Australia.

Football signed by Desmond Tutu receives a rousing welcome at Rotary International Convention in Montreal

MONTREAL/CAPE TOWN (June 24, 2010) –  Rotary’s promise to kick polio out of Africa and the world took center stage as a football signed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and dignitaries from more than 20 African nations received a rousing welcome at the humanitarian organization’s annual convention, which was held in Montreal, June 20-23.

"Polio eradication is not optional — it is an obligation," said Marie-Irène Richmond-Ahoua, Rotary’s National PolioPlus Committee Chair and Outreach Advisor at United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast, as she presented the ball on stage to thunderous applause to RI President John Kenny. "We must commit to overcoming the remaining obstacles and free Africa, Southeast Asia, and the world from this crippling disease, which ruins the lives of children. As an African woman and mother, I will not tolerate it."

The arrival of the football culminates Rotary’s Kick Polio Out of Africa Campaign -- a four-month, Pan-African public awareness drive tapping the continent’s excitement over the 2010 World Cup and   mobilizing the public for  massive immunization rounds this spring targeting more than 100 million African children under the age of five. The ball passed through 23 polio-affected countries en route to Montréal.  The Kick-Out finale event was held in Alexandria, on June 12.  Egyptian National footballer Islam El-Shater kicked the ball toward the Mediterranean Sea — symbolically kicking polio out of the continent.

A virtual version of the ball (www.kickpoliooutofafrica.org) was launched in May and has gathered nearly 10,000 online signatures thus far. After the 2010 World Cup, the signatures will be formally presented to the other spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While most of the world is polio-free, it still threatens children in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East,” said Rotary International President John Kenny. “Kick Polio Out of Africa shows the tremendous resolve of the global community to come together to fight this disease. Rotary and its partners are committed to kicking polio out of Africa—and indeed—out of existence forever.“

When former President Nelson Mandela launched the Kick Polio out of Africa campaign originally in 1996, almost all countries in Africa were still suffering from polio. Today, polio eradication sits at a critical juncture. Across Africa, 10 of the 15 previously polio-free countries re-infected in 2009 have successfully stopped their outbreaks. Nowhere is progress more evident than in Nigeria -- the last remaining polio endemic country on the continent – where case numbers have plummeted by 99 percent, from 312 cases at this time last year, to three cases in 2010.

In his keynote address at the Rotary Convention on June 22, Bruce Aylward, director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at the World Health Organization (WHO), encouraged the thousands of Rotary members in attendance to share the "terrific news" that polio is on the run, and that Rotary’s vision of a polio-free world is within sight.

“The stakes are now much higher, because in the past 12 months you have proved, without a doubt, that polio can be eradicated. The world has also learned the full consequences of failure," said Aylward, referring to a current polio outbreak in Tajikistan which is now showing signs of stopping.

Rotary’s Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign organizer June Webber echoed Aylward’s message in Cape Town. “During the last 12 months, the world has witnessed what Africa can do when they get determined to do so. Football is a team sport – a unifying global force, much like the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) which has so many players.”

The polio eradication initiative is facing a US $1.3 billion funding shortfall over the next three years, according to WHO. Calling for support from donor countries, footballers, and fans from the 32 countries represented at the 2010 FIFA Cup, Webber said, “We need your help to raise awareness and the much needed funds to finish the job. This World Cup is not just about the game. This World Cup presents a strong image of a united Africa to the world – and the profound power of the African Ubuntu spirit.”

On February 23, when the Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign was launched, the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town and the Pyramid of Khafre, the second largest of the ancient Egyptian pyramids of Giza, provided a dramatic backdrop for an equally dramatic message: End Polio Now. This week, those words – En Finir Avec la Polio (in French) – were projected onto the exterior of Bonsecours Market in Old Montréal to celebrate the ball’s arrival and re-affirm Rotary’s determination to end this crippling childhood disease once and for all.

Beginning in 1985, when polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children in 125 countries every year, eradication has been Rotary’s top philanthropic goal.  Since then, polio cases have been slashed by 99 percent worldwide, with fewer than 1,700 cases in 2009. Just four countries remain polio-endemic: Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. However, other nations remain at risk for infections “imported” from the endemic countries.

As the volunteer arm and top private sector contributor in the polio eradication initiative, Rotary has contributed more than $900 million and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than two billion children in 122 countries.

To see the football’s journey, go to http://kickpoliooutofafrica.wordpress.com.

To sign and kick the virtual ball, go to www.kickpoliooutofafrica.org.

For video and still photos, go to: www.thenewsmarket.com/rotaryinternational

As the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, drew to a close on 23 June, RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith outlined his plans for his term, which begins 1 July. Participants also got a preview of next year’s big event in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, where the Host Organization Committee has planned fun for the whole family.

Kalyan Banerjee, of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India, was elected president of Rotary International in 2011-12 by delegates during the fourth plenary session at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

New strategy builds on 99% drop in Nigeria cases but faces 50% funding shortfall

GENEVA (June 17, 2010) – In Geneva this Friday, a broad range of stakeholders will formally launch the new Strategic Plan 2010-2012 for eradicating wild poliovirus.

Polio eradication sits at a critical juncture. Across Africa, 10 of the 15 previously polio-free countries re-infected in 2009 have successfully stopped their outbreaks. Key endemic countries are witnessing historic gains against the disease. Nowhere is progress more evident than Nigeria, where case numbers have plummeted by more than 99% – from 312 cases at this time last year, to three in 2010. In India, for the first time ever, the remaining endemic states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have not reported any wild poliovirus type 1 cases concurrently for more than six months.

This meeting in Geneva is being held to build on the gains already made in 2010 and to galvanize new action on polio eradication. Last month, the World Health Assembly welcomed the new plan while expressing deep concern about the US $1.3 billion funding shortfall (out of a budget of US $2.6 billion) over the next three years. This financing shortfall is a serious risk to the eradication of polio – activities are already being cut back or postponed due to a lack of funds.

The Ministers of Health of Nigeria, Afghanistan, Angola and Senegal, among a number of other senior health ministry officials, existing and potential funders, vaccine manufacturers and key partner organizations will attend the meeting – co-hosted by WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and the new UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake – to discuss the implementation, monitoring, economics and financing of the new plan.

Dr Margaret Chan called on the international funding community to stand tall for polio eradication. "The next three years, and especially the next 12 months, are critical to the polio eradication initiative and, by extension, the entire international public health agenda."

The new plan builds on major lessons learnt to date, including findings from  a major independent evaluation examining the remaining barriers to eradication.  It introduces district- and area-specific strategies to target the ever-shrinking remaining reservoirs of poliovirus, exploits the game-changing bivalent oral polio vaccine to increase the impact of immunizations, and tackles health system weaknesses. The success of this plan now hinges on implementation of activities at field level and the provision of adequate financing.

Partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are examining every possible option to seek fresh funding while managing existing cash flow to limit any threat to the immunization plan. The risk of not stopping polio in endemic countries was made clear when a large type-1 outbreak originally from India spread to Tajikistan early in 2010 where, to date, it has paralysed 239 children. Tajikistan had been polio-free since 1997. This highlights the urgency of capitalizing on recent gains made in the polio-endemic countries.

“Polio eradication remains an urgent priority for our foundation,” said Tachi Yamada, president of global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  “We call on donor governments to also prioritize polio as we seek to eliminate these last, most difficult cases.”

“The complete eradication of polio is an absolute goal and it requires absolute commitment from us all,” said UNICEF Executive Director Tony Lake.

“Rotary believes the new Strategic Plan provides the blueprint to achieving the goal of polio eradication,” said Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, 2010-11 Chair, The Rotary Foundation. When Rotary initially launched the effort in 1985, 1000 children were being paralyzed daily by polio across 125 countries each year. Rotary has since contributed more than US $900 million in that time, and the incidence of polio has fallen by more than 99%.

From 25 to 30th April, the RI Council on Legislation will meet in Chicago to debate more than 200 proposed enactments and resolutions. Among the items under consideration are proposals to change how often clubs must meet, amend rules for transferring to a new club, increase per capital dues, amend the duties of RI directors, and request that the RI Board consider establishing an Environment Protection Awareness Day.

Whereas the Board of Directors sets policies for Rotary International, the triennial Council on Legislation is where Rotary clubs have their say in the governance of the organisation. Every club and district is entitled to submit legislation to the Council. (Proposals are also submitted by the General Council and Conference of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, the RI Board, and the Council itself.) Some of Rotary's most important work has resulted from Council action, including the PolioPlus programme.

The Council is made up of more than 500 representatives, including one elected representative from each district. Non-voting members include the chair and vice chair of the Council, the RI president, members of the RI Board, and past RI presidents.

As of 28 February, Rotarians have raised about $114.5 Million for Rotary's US $200 Million Challenge. These Contributions will help Rotary raise US $200 Million to match $355 Million in Challenge Grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Resulting $ 555 million will directly support immunisation campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families.

PDG MA Awwal, Rotary Club of Agrabad was appointed Rotary International President's Personal Representative to represent RI President John Kenny at the District Conference of the District 3270 Pakistan & Afghanistan on the 2nd-4th April, 2010. He was accompanied by his spouse PDFL Khaleda Abid Awwal.

The District Award Ceremony 2010 will be held on Saturday, 12th June 2010 at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, Dhaka District Awards for 2009-2010 will be considered for actual activities performed during the period 1 July, 20009 to 30th April, 2010. Highest contribution & highest per capital contribution to TRF will be considered upto 30th April, 2010.

Entries for Awards must reach the Chairman of the District Award & Recognition Committee on or before 15th May, 2010. Clubs who received Running Shields/Memorial Trophies last Rotary year are requested to return same to the Chairman, Award Committee positively by 30th April, 2010. Entries to be send to the following address.

Capt. M. Shafi

Chairman

District Award & Recognition Committee 2009-2010
AKASH Apt. # 2A, House # 24, Road # 71
Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Cell: 017 11 562000.Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Past District Governor Iftekharul Alam has been awarded REGIONAL SERVICE AWARD for a Polio-Free World by Glenn E. Estess Sr, Chairman, The Rotary Foundation Trustees, 2009-2010, Rotary International in recognition of active personal service toward the goal of polio eradication.

It may be mentioned here that PDG Alam has been serving Rotary for the last 56 years. The district 3280 acknowledges his contribution in all fields particularly Polio eradication and Arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh.

We are proud and honoured by his achievements. Congragulations.