KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 7
Jennifer E Jones, the first female president of Rotary International, in the 117-yearold history of the leading international humanitarian organisation, said she wished the world to know the stories and achievements of the organisation through its 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries in the world.
A recognised communicator and journalist, Jennifer, who is on a four days official visit to Nepal, told THT it was important that rotary members narrated stories of their achievements and selfless support in developing better communities so that more people knew about them.
"The biggest thing I am working on this year is to train our members to tell stories of what they are doing because when we tell our stories to people it gives them the opportunity to know what we are doing.
And, I like that. I like to be the part of that. This will expose us to a larger audience so more people know exactly what it is that we are doing," Jennifer said.
Rotary Club, brings together people who are leaders in their own vocation and encourages high ethical standards.
The organisation is mostly celebrated for its incessant effort to eradicate polio.
Rotary had started working to eradicate this disabling and life-threatening disease through mass vaccination of children in 1985. Since then, it has contributed more than $ 2.6 billion and vaccinated more than 2.6 billion children across the world.
Today, polio has been almost eradicated from the world with just 30 new patients that recently emerged in Pakistan and Afghanistan, given the fact that it's very difficult to eradicate any disease.
Jennifer believes that just being a female leader has helped raise a profile and awareness about what Rotarians are doing ans inspiring young members in leadership development and achieving excellence in their profession. However, she also said that people need to stop seeing gender and start seeing skill. "I hope we can arrive at a place where we (both male and female) can exist together looking at the bright future together.
Jennifer is concerned that people might understand Rotary International as a stereotype and think it is a male dominated organisation.
But the demographic of Rotary members under the age of 30 shows that male and female members are 50-50. "As a female leader what I am truly hoping is to break down stereotypes and barriers so that everyone regardless of gender feel welcome to our organisation.
So that they can be their true authentic selves."
Pioneer Rotary members had helped in the formation of the United Nations and so it currently holds the highest consultative status offered to non-governmental organisations by the UN.
"All our works are guided towards building peace in the world. Our seven areas of focus are directly aligned towards the UN's SDG and we are all working collectively to make our world a better place," Jennifer said.
A true Rotarian from heart, Jennifer was simply amazed by the pure joy of Nepali members 'reflected in their faces'. "We have service in our hearts and we understand that we can imagine a better future for the world. You don't think of yesterday you imagine for tomorrow."
A version of this article appears in the print on December 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
