Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world.

The world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P. Harris. The name "Rotary" derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices.

Rotarians pooled their resources and contributed their talents to help serve communities in need. Rotary International’s dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its principal motto: Service Above Self. Rotary embraced a code of ethics, called The 4-Way Test.

In 1945, 49 Rotary members served in 29 delegations to the United Nations Charter Conference. Rotary International's relationship with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) dates back to a 1943 London Rotary conference that promoted international cultural and educational exchanges.

An endowment fund, set up by Rotarians in 1917 "for doing good in the world," became a not-for-profit corporation known as The Rotary Foundation in 1928. Today, contributions to The Rotary Foundation total more than US$80m annually that enable Rotarians to bring hope and promote international peace and understanding throughout the world.

¨     More than two billion children have received oral polio vaccine."

¨    In 2003, over 400 million children were vaccinated in 55 countries.

¨    In 1988, 10% of the world’s children lived in polio-free countries; as of 1 July 2004, over 70% are living in polio-free countries.”

¨    A child can be protected against polio for as little as US$ .60 worth of vaccine

¨    Since Rotary began its PolioPlus Program, the number of polio endemic countries has declined from over 125 countries in 1985 to 6 countries at the end of the year 2003. The number of polio cases has declined by more than 99% since 1985.