Jennifer E. Jones, president of Rotary International (RI), said that the organisation has a target of increasing the representation of women in its leadership roles across the globe to 30% by 2023.
Speaking to The Hindu during her visit to Chennai on Wednesday, she said that 24% of the membership of the Rotary family are women. Pointing out that the composition varied across countries, she said that women accounted for 16% of Rotary membership in India.
She said that RI was keen to increase the role of women in the organisation, both in terms of membership and leadership roles. “We do not want to include women simply because of their gender. We want to look for the best and brightest. I am confident that we have got a lot of incredibly talented women who belong within our ranks. I think it is incumbent upon us to take an opportunity to raise awareness,” she said.
Ms. Jones is the first woman president of RI since it was formed 117 years ago in 1905. “I think quite candidly that is the reason why the opportunity that I have in this role right now is to shine a light on this and perhaps breakdown the stereotypes that exist within our organisation or externally that it may be male dominated,” she said.
Highlighting that a number of successful projects were being implemented by Rotary International across India for many decades now, she said that the country, which largely remained a beneficiary of aid, was now becoming a “giving nation.” “It is about taking care of your own community while caring for the global community as well,” she said. She said that the contribution from Rotary members in India towards RI’s disaster relief fund for the ongoing war in Ukraine was significant.
Hepatitis vaccine
She launched “A million hepatitis vaccination drive” on Wednesday, which will be carried out jointly by Rotary District 3232 along with Chennai Liver Foundation. She said that Rotary’s experience in polio eradication programme has given it the strength and framework to tackle other health-related challenges.
Ms. Jones, who is planning to call on Chief Minister M.K. Stalin during her Chennai visit, said that she will be briefing him about the polio eradication programme and the Rotary initiatives happening in Tamil Nadu. “Advocacy to government is incredibly important,” she added.
A.S. Venkatesh, RI director, said that “A million hepatitis vaccination drive” will have a two-pronged strategy, which included creating awareness and social mobilisation, and raising funds to vaccinate one million people by June 2023. R.P. Shanmugam, founder, CLF, and N. Nandakumar, governor, Rotary District 3232 also spoke at the launch.
