A notice about the Live Event on the World Bank website.

By Quentin Wodon

On 8 March, I helped organize an event at the World Bank in celebration of International Women’s Day designed to illustrate the power of women to change the world. The main speakers for the event, sponsored by the World Bank Group Staff Association, were Marion Bunch and Deepa Willingham, both dynamic Rotary members.

We learned a few valuable lessons from our efforts to promote the event online through social media. First, with about 250 people attending at the World Bank, the event was a success. But more importantly, 3,341 unique visitors viewed the event through the World Bank Live platform. That means 13 times more people watched the event online as did in person. We expect even more people to watch the recording of the event when it is made available on the event’s webpage.

Mitty Chang unveils the free website offer to Rotary Leaders at Rotary’s annual training event in San Diego in January.

By Jermaine Ee, Rotary Club of Los Angeles

Mitty Chang and I, founders of Candeavor, met in the lobby of a budget hotel in Sydney, Australia, while attending the International Rotary Youth Leadership Awards at the 2014 Rotary Convention.

 Although we were both from California, we came from very different backgrounds. Mitty is from the technology center of the world, Silicon Valley, while I am from the media & entertainment center of the world, Los Angeles. And while Mitty has over a decade of experience in the Rotary family (he is a member of the Rotary E-Club of Silicon Valley), I was just a newbie.

By Azka Asif, Rotary Programs Staff

Clean water is a basic human right that many are often denied.  There are 2.5 billion people in the world that lack access to improved sanitation and 748 million people that don’t have clean drinking water. Nearly 1400 children die each day from diseases caused by lack of sanitation and unsafe water. When people have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives.

In 2015, the United Nations introduced their new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty and promote prosperity while protecting the environment and addressing climate change. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on water and sanitation encourages us to address universal access to drinking water and sanitation along with improved water management to protect ecosystems and build resiliency. *

Rotary members are committed to reaching the water and sanitation SDG through projects like building wells, installing rainwater harvesting systems…

By Ryan Hyland, Rotary editorial staff

Incoming district governors got their first look at the presidential theme for 2016-17, Rotary Serving Humanity, today at the International Assembly, an annual training event for future leaders. RI President-elect John F. Germ encouraged attendees to work as a team to get the word out about what Rotary is, and what we do, especially as we near the end of our goal to eradicate polio. “The more we are known for what we’ve achieved, the more we’ll be able to attract the partners, the funding, and most important of all, the members to achieve even more.”

We caught up with incoming district governors after the theme was announced to get their thoughts.

At this time of year, our thoughts turn to family and home, but for many this just isn’t possible.

At ShelterBox, we don’t just help people whose homes have been damaged or lost in natural disasters, but those who have had to leave their homes due to conflict.

While many people leave their homes to escape the threat of terror and violence, such as those fleeing from Boko Haram in Nigeria or Islamic State in the Middle East, the way to safety is often just as perilous.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the number of people fleeing war and violence in 2015 is set break a record high, with almost a million people having crossed the Mediterranean Sea to escape conflict in Syria and elsewhere.

While we may not be able to help these families return to their homes and communities as we can after a flood…