The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty. The Rotary Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.   
 
Rotary is one of the foremost non-governmental foundations in the world.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Polio Plus is Rotary’s  flagship international programme is to help eradicate polio throughout the world.

Eradication Status

There are significant reasons to be optimistic about achieving our goal of global polio eradication.

1. The number of polio cases has been reduced by a projected 99 percent since Rotary and partner agencies formed the global polio eradication initiative — from 350,000 in 1988 to fewer than 1300 in 2004. 

2. Three of six regions of the world are free of the wild poliovirus. 
3. Despite intensive surveillance efforts, one of the three types of viruses (Type II) that cause polio has not been seen since 1999. Could it be that it has already been eradicated? The World Health Organization will continue to promo   te active surveillance to determine this possibility.

Nevertheless, significant challenges lie ahead, including immunizing all children — even those in remote, conflict areas — maintaining political commitment to polio eradication.

Given the tremendous progress so far achieved, the prospects of achieving global polio eradication are high. Rotary looks forward to providing all children with a permanent gift — a world free of polio.

GROUP EXCHANGE VISITS

The Foundation also provides Group Study Exchange visits to other countries.

AMBASSADORIAL SCHOLARS

We provide opportunities for ambassadorial scholars to visit the UK.