Rotary Clubs Always Pumped for World Water Day

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Mar 21, 2012, 04:14 ET

EVANSTON, Ill., March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Although the United Nations designates March 22 as World Water Day, Rotary members around the globe are focused on the issue 24/7, volunteering their time and resources to provide safe water and sanitation to communities wherever there is need.

A centerpiece of Rotary's emphasis on water and sanitation issues is the International H2O Collaboration, an alliance between Rotary International and USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development). Launched in 2009, it works to implement long-term, sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the developing world. The first phase of the partnership has focused on three countries: Ghana, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.

In 2011, Rotary, through its foundation, established a strategic partnership with UNESCO-IHE, a United Nations institute in The Netherlands that is the world's largest postgraduate water education facility. The Rotary Foundation will provide grants to Rotary clubs and districts to select and sponsor eight students each year for scholarships leading to master's degrees in specified program areas.

Additional Rotary projects worldwide.

The Rotary Pacific Water for Life Foundation has completed its 100th project in Fiji, directly benefiting about 45,500 people at a total cost of US$1.3 million.
In India, the Rotary India Water Conservation Trust (RIWCT) is working with local communities, governments and the private sector to construct dams and build reservoirs and shafts for rainwater harvesting.
In October 2011, the Uganda Rotary Water Plus program was launched. It is designed to help the country achieve its Millennium Development Goal of enabling 77 percent of rural residents to have access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2015.
In Tanzania and Malawi, Rotary clubs are collaborating with Africare "H2O for Life" in a program supported by Procter & Gamble to bring safe water to households and schools in rural areas.
The Rotary club of La Molina Vieja, Peru, supported by The Rotary Foundation is helping local villagers build, install, operate and maintain a bio-sand filter program.

Rotary is a global humanitarian organization with more than 1.2 million members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary members are men and women who are business, professional and community leaders with a shared commitment to make the world a better place through humanitarian service. Rotary's top priority is the global eradication of polio.

For more information visit: www.rotary.org or www.rotary.org/mediacenter.

SOURCE Rotary International