Posted on Nov 10, 2019
Saturday, 9 November 2019 at 7:30 am kicked off the Rotary Day at the UN 2019. This year the celebration was in conjunction with the preparations for the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN charter.  In a message, Rotary President Mark Maloney said Rotary helped influence the formation of the UN. " Rotary educated members about plans to create the UN through numerous articles in The Rotarian and through a booklet titled From Here On! When the time came to write the UN charter, Rotary was one of 42 organizations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the San Francisco Conference.
 
Through a series of flash talks and plenary speeches, this event offered the energetic 470 attendees from 23 countries an inspiring day of Connecting for Good and to learn about and support projects in refugee settlements and beyond.  Guests heard first-hand experiences of resettled refugees, humanitarian actors and individuals creating community-based solutions that empower refugees, leverage their talents and connect them to opportunities.  Here you can view the presentations.
 
 
The 2019-2020 Rotary People of Action: Connectors Beyond Borders recognition honored five Rotarians, and one Peace Fellow, all of who are working, as volunteers, with displaced people (refugees or internally displaced persons) in their own communities or around the world.

 1.  Hasina Rahman, Rotary Club of Dhaka Mavericks, Bangladesh  for Nutrition services for Rohingya children in Bangladesh;
 
2.  Lucienne Heyworth, Rotary Peace Fellow (Uppsala University, 2015-17), for Education curriculum in times of emergency, focused on the Middle East;
 
3. Ace Robin, Rotary Club of Mataram Lombok, Mataram, Indonesia, for Disaster relief and housing for people displaced by earthquakes;
 
4. Vanderlei Lima Santana, Rotary Club of Boa Vista-Caçari, Roraima, Brazil, for Humanitarian aid to Venezuelan refugees;
 
5. Bernd Fischer, Rotary Club of Berlin, Germany, for Integration of refugee women into German society;
 
6.  Ilge Karancak-Splane, Rotary Club of Monterey Cannery Row, California, USA, for Education and integration project in Turkey for Syrian refugee children.
 
Among the speakers were RI President Mark Maloney, General Secretary John Hewko, United Nations Directors Dominique Hyde (UNICEF) and Maher Nasser (UN) and Awet Woldegebriel of UNICEF, USA.  Other speakers included the President of ShelterBox, and other officials from UNICEF.  Our very own PDG George Camp spoke about his experiences in polio immunization campaigns.
 
The day ended with a dinner hosted by President Maloney attended by RI officials.
 
The Rotary Representative Team at the UN performed a great job in putting together the great event and our District Rotaractors were at hand as volunteers at the event.