Rotary Give Every Child A Future is Rotary Australasia’s centennial project to introduce three vaccines into nine Pacific Island countries.  It has just reached a significant milestone with the approval of nine Global Grants by The Rotary Foundation.  These grants, one for each country for the first year of the project, have a combined value of US$1.3 million.
 
Global grants are made up of Rotary club fundraising and Rotary District Designated Funds which are then matched by The Rotary Foundation’s World Fund.
 
RGECAF can now move to the implementation phase of this major public health initiative in the Pacific.  Through our collaboration with UNICEF, 100,000 women and children will benefit individually, saving lives and saving families.  In addition, the project will significantly strengthen health systems in each of the nine countries, providing a sustainable legacy of improved healthcare.
 
While these grants provide a huge boost to the project, RGECAF’s success remains dependent on continued fundraising over the next three years.  Right now, we need your help to meet our targets for 2019-20.  Despite the impact of Covid-19, we ask all Rotary clubs to consider making a contribution to RGECAF before the end of this Rotary year.  Can you find at least $15 per member to make this happen?
 
Your club payment can be made either:
  • Via Rotary New Zealand World Community Service.  Bank account number 03-1702-0192208-01.  Please include Ref No 419 (Give Every Child A Future) and your club’s name.
  • Via Rotary Oceania Operations (ROZOPS) Ltd.  Bank account Number 12-3026-0272331-56.  Ref RGECAF and your club’s name.
 
Personal donations can be made:
 
Please ensure that all contributions clearly indicate who is making the payment and/or which Rotary club they are from so that Rotary Foundation recognition points can be correctly attributed.  As with all personal Rotary Foundation donations, the individual accrues recognition points and the amount counts towards the club’s Foundation-giving goals.
 
Rotary Give Every Child A Future was launched across Australasia to celebrate the 100th anniversary, in 2021, of Rotary International in the region.  For three years Rotary will fund the introduction of rotavirus, pneumococcal and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for Pacific Island children in Kiribati, the Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue and Nauru.  It will also support the introduction of these vaccines in Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.  Implementing new vaccines into a country’s immunisation programme is very expensive.  It is this phase that RGECAF is supporting.  With commitments from governments to continue funding these vaccines after three years, this project will see children protected from life-threatening diseases and families protected from the loss of a mother to cervical cancer for generations to come.
For more information, or to donate, please go to everychildafuture.com.
 
Michelle Tanner
RGECAF Marketing Chair
18 April 2020