President Mills commends Rotary International for humanitarian services

Accra, Aug 19, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Friday lauded Rotary International for its immense contribution to national development.

He was particular about the association's humanitarian and community service that addressed education, health, environment and child care, saying those services had been very helpful to Ghana and other countries.

“Rotary has an enviable reputation and we acknowledge their contributions,” he said.

President Mills made the commendation when the executives of Rotary International called on him at the Osu Castle in Accra.

They were at the Castle to interact with the President, and tell him about the organisation's initiatives and to find out ways to collaborate more effectively with the Government to address problems of the society.

President Mills assured the organisation of Government’s collaboration, especially in enhancing the welfare of Ghanaians in deprived areas.

President Mills said Government believed in quality partnership, indicating that Rotary would continue to be of critical importance to the Better Ghana agenda since it had membership of high level expertise required to support national socio-economic growth.

Mr Kalyn Banerjee, President of Rotary International, who led the delegation, told President Mills that the organisation’s contribution towards the fight against the polio disease had yielded dividend as the disease had been almost fully eradicated in the world.

He said the organisation in recent times had increased its attention to addressing child mortality and conflicts, especially in developing countries, and therefore requested Government support and co-operation in that regard.

Rotary is a global organization of more than 1.2 million businesses, professional and community leaders who provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

There are 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas, where members volunteer in communities to support education and job training, provide clean water, combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, and eradicate polio.