For more than 110 years, Rotary members have been addressing challenges around the world.

It started with the vision of one man — Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905, so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas, form meaningful, lifelong friendships, and give back to their communities.

Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of its members.

Rotary is made up of three parts:

• Our Clubs
• Rotary International, and
• The Rotary Foundation.

Together, we work to make lasting change in our communities and around the world. The operations of Rotary International, a member organization, are overseen by its Board of Directors. Learn more about our structure and our leadership.

Rotary club membership represents a cross-section of the community’s business and professional men and women. The world’s Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. The principal motto of Rotary is ‘Service Above Self’.

Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. Rotary unites people from all continents and cultures who take action to deliver real, long-term solutions to our world’s most persistent issues.

Together, we apply our professional experience and personal commitment to find new and effective ways to enhance health, stability, and prosperity across the globe.

Through volunteering, our 1.2 million members make lifelong friendships that transcend political and cultural boundaries and foster global understanding and respect.

Rotary’s 100-year track record of Rotarians joining together to use their skills and passion to make a difference in their communities is one that fosters pride worldwide.

Rotary leads Global Effort to Eradicate Polio

For more than 30 years, Rotary has been the driving force in the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Alongside our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary has achieved a 99.9 percent reduction in polio cases.

Rotarians have contributed $1.9 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease.

Today, Africa has been declared free from wild polio infections whilst polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rotary remains committed to ending polio, and will raise $50 million per year, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars through a matching agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Together we End Polio

Each year, people all over the world mark 24th October as World Polio Day. As part of the celebration, the Rotary Club of Accra-Airport organises a breakfast fundraising meeting dubbed, ‘Arise for Polio’.

The Arise for Polio initiative is to constantly remind members of the Club and partners of the determination of Rotary International in eradicating polio and to raise funds towards the $120 million global pledge to support the PolioPlus Project of Rotary International.

This meeting is usually attended by members of the Club, partners, donors from the business community in Ghana and officials of international organisations including UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.