I am part of a team of Rotarians that came together nearly four years ago to initiate a project to recognize and celebrate the Centenary in Australia and New Zealand in 2021. It started as a group from the original four clubs in this part of the world – Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, and Wellington. Since then, many other clubs and districts have participated and are providing support. We called the project Give Every Child A Future because importantly, it will reduce child mortality and ease the burden of cervical cancer, thus giving every child a better future.
Newsletter March 2021
Welcome to our first quarterly newsletter. After many years of planning, Rotary Give Every Child A Future vaccines have arrived in the Pacific, storage equipment has been distributed and health workers training us underway.
To find out more please click here.
UNICEF Update February 2021
As we finally receive vaccines in the Pacific we are delighted to provide a full update from UNICEF.
To download UNICEF’s February 2021 update for Rotary Give Every Child A Future click here
Chinese New Year Banquet Raises NZ$11,500 for RGECAF
Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally focus on sharing good wishes for health and prosperity in the year ahead. This year a sold-out event was organised by the Rotary Club of Wellington in favour of better health for Pacific children.
Thanks to many generous guests and prize donors, more than $11,500 was raised for Rotary Give Every Child a Future during a superb ten-course Chinese banquet at Dragons Restaurant in Wellington on 21 February, held to mark the beginning of the Year of the Ox.
The event was attended by dignitaries including the Australian High Commissioner (an active supporter of Rotary’s Trans-Tasman Centenary), Rotarians from Wellington and further afield, and many friends and family members. Fundraising came from ticket sales, raffles and an auction. A particularly sought-after item was afternoon tea with the Club’s honorary member, Hon Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance.
Well-known epidemiologist, Professor Michael Baker of Otago University in Wellington, was the guest speaker. His speech reinforced the importance of immunisation as a regular, ongoing public health service. He strongly endorsed RGECAF’s focus on ridding Pacific countries of deadly but preventable childhood diseases along with protecting girls against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV). Professor Baker outlined the evolution of the COVID-19 virus from early 2020, the variable responses internationally and the effectiveness of New Zealand’s choice to try to eliminate rather than manage the virus’ spread.
Rotary Give Every Child A Future rolls out
All Rotarians ‘down under’ should now be familiar with Rotary Give Every Child A Future (RGECAF). It is the one Centenary project that spans the whole zone and the aim is to involve every Rotarian, every Rotary club and every Rotary district in saving lives in the Pacific. Rotary Give Every Child A Future, through our partner UNICEF, will vaccinate 100,000 children across nine Pacific Islands over three years.
In this article the project team give an update on where RGECAF is as of March 2021.
