The Rotary Foundation

The Rotary Foundation is the shared fund from which Rotarians' projects around the world are financed. It was founded in 1917 and is today among the highest-rated humanitarian organisations for transparency and stewardship of funds.

The Foundation does not raise money in order to hold it. The funds return to clubs as grants — and clubs turn them into concrete projects in their own communities.

The six areas of focus

• peacebuilding and conflict prevention
• disease prevention and treatment
• water, sanitation and hygiene
• maternal and child health
• basic education and literacy
• community economic development

A seventh area, the environment, was added in 2021.

Grants

District grants fund smaller local projects — a school, a nursery, a clinic. The district decides on them.

Global grants are larger and require a partnership between two clubs from different countries. It was in this way that our club, together with clubs from Slovenia, Romania, Montenegro and the United States, provided a 4D ultrasound scanner for the Pančevo General Hospital, with 33,300 euros raised.

Paul Harris Fellow

The „Paul Harris Fellow“ recognition is given for contributions to the Foundation and carries the name of Rotary's founder. In our club it has so far gone to Milan Orlić, Dr Zoran Đurđev, Dr Minja Stojanović and Nebojša Prekić.

What the Foundation has achieved

Its best-known undertaking is the fight against polio: since 1985 the number of cases has fallen by more than 99 per cent, with over 2.5 billion children vaccinated in more than 120 countries. Beyond that, millions have gained access to clean water, and the Rotary Peace Fellowship trains specialists in peace and conflict resolution.

More about the Foundation at [Rotary District 2483](https://rotarydistrict2483.org/rotary-foundation/) and at [rotary.org](https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation).