Happy New Rotary Year!
As we face the new year, let us be energized with the hope that the pandemic, which has caused inconvenience and suffering during the past 1-½ years, will finally simmer down or at the very least we will be able to better cope with it, and we return to our “new normal” lives.
As part of the family of Rotary, we, as changemakers, should initiate many of those changes ourselves for a better year for Rotaract, Rotary, our communities, and the world.
Rotary International Pres. Shekhar Mehta said, we can begin by looking at growing our membership. He suggested the adoption of the principle of “Each One, Bring One” to increase membership, with a member proposing one person to be a member.
This is relevant not just for Rotarians, but also for Rotaractors, as the latter is not only a group of young people inculcated with the Rotary values of selfless service and a pool for future Rotary leaders, but also today, they can opt to immediately become a Rotarian. A Rotarian now also has the option to be a Rotaractor. Hence, in a synergistic way, raising the number of Rotaract members has the potential to also raise Rotary membership, so today and tomorrow there will be more people who can Serve to Change Lives.
Promoting women in Rotary is another way to increase membership. And some initiatives to empower girls – through greater access to education, better health care, more employment, equality, and inclusivity – lay the foundation for women to assume more leadership roles in the future, including in Rotary.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2020 ranks the Philippines among the highest in terms of providing equal opportunities in education, health, employment, and political leadership for women – No. 16 out of 153 countries, better than Canada, UK, US, Singapore, and Australia. The highest ranked were Iceland (#1) and most of the rest of the Nordic countries.
We can help maintain and even strengthen this position for the Philippines through increased admission of the female gender in the family of Rotary as well as pursuing service projects that support empowerment of girls. This can also help sustain the growth of our membership in the years to come.
Edgardo “Boyet” Limon
Philippine Rotary Magazine Foundation, Inc.
Chairman
