Rotary United Nations Day

Rotary and the United Nations have a special relationship since Rotary was one of the founders of the United Nations. It started in November 1943, when Rotary sponsored a conference in London with ministers and observers from twenty-one governments. This group began laying plans for what was to become UNESCO. During the foundation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, forty-nine Rotarians helped to draft the United Nations Charter in and many of the international delegates from around the world were Rotarians. Upon founding the United Nations, Rotary became one of the original 42 Non Governmental Organizations that were invited to participate, apposition that Rotary still maintains.

You can read more about Rotary and the United Nations on the internet at the following link: http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/history/history/un/, http://nyrotaryunitednations.blogspot.com/. Rotarians will celebrate Rotary UN Day at the United Nations in New York on November 8, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is slated to give a special presentation to the Rotarians at the Rotary UN Day. You can read more about Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the internet at http://www.un.org/sg/.

There will also be presentations and panel discussions about Rotarian issues like water, health, literacy, and hunger. You can read the full announcement from Rotary International on the internet at http://www.rotary.org/en/Members/Events/Pages/081508_announce_rotaryunday.aspx.