ROTARY AT DAVOS

By RI General Secretary John Hewko

I recently had the privilege of representing Rotary International at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Every year, the economic forum brings together in Davos several thousand of the world’s leading figures from the private sector, government, and academia. The forum also invites a select group of 40 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Following the concerted efforts of senior Rotary leaders, Rotary has been fortunate to be chosen as one of those NGO invitees. (click below to read more)

The four-day event involved a non-stop program of meetings, receptions, and networking opportunities, which represented an incredible opportunity to introduce Rotary to a very select audience. In all, I was able to have a substantive conversation with almost 120 individuals about Rotary and our efforts to eradicate polio. In addition, because of my prior US government experience with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, I was asked to participate in a number of discussion sessions dealing with international development and health issues. This afforded a further opportunity to showcase the work of Rotary and the polio eradication effort.

For more than two decades, Rotary has been taking the lead in the global effort to eradicate polio. We are This Close to finishing the job. To have Rotary be a part of such a collection of distinguished world leaders at the economic forum further underscored that Rotary is a major player on the international stage.

This of course could not have happened without the commitment and dedication of the 1.2 million Rotary members worldwide – men and women who have worked so long to bring us to the threshold of our ultimate goal: a polio-free world.