Recently the Board of our club considered recognition of those Polio volunteers who had been injured or killed while carrying out polio immunization duties.
The question was referred upwards to Rotary International, and the following response has been received from Carol Pandak
"Thank you for sharing your thoughtful idea about recognizing those who have been injured or killed while carrying out polio immunization activities in Pakistan.
This is an issue that has been discussed with both the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, as well as the International PolioPlus Committee.
Many of those families have been recognized either through the Polio Eradication Heroes Fund of which Rotary is a founder and contributor, or by the government or one of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, if the person was employed by the government or a partner agency.
The Polio Eradication Heroes Fund provides recognition of US$1,000 to the families of those injured and US$2,000 for the families of those killed carrying out polio immunization activities whether it was the result of violence or an accident. Rotary also established the PolioPlus Memorial Scholarship in Pakistan and Nigeria as a result of an idea of the Rotary Club of Maffra, Australia sent to then RI President KR Ravindran as another way to honor the service of these individuals.
The Polio Eradication Heroes Fund provides recognition of US$1,000 to the families of those injured and US$2,000 for the families of those killed carrying out polio immunization activities whether it was the result of violence or an accident. Rotary also established the PolioPlus Memorial Scholarship in Pakistan and Nigeria as a result of an idea of the Rotary Club of Maffra, Australia sent to then RI President KR Ravindran as another way to honor the service of these individuals.
The Rotary Foundation Trustees agreed to allocate funding for up to 10 scholarships each in both Nigeria and Pakistan to provide support to masters-level students pursuing degrees in Public Health who indicate a commitment to working in their home countries after graduation to benefit the communities in which they live.
There will be two cohorts of up to five each in both countries. The first cohort was recently chosen for the 2017-2018 period. A second cohort will be chosen for the 2019-2020 period. Scholarships are recommended by a subcommittee appointed by Rotary's National PolioPlus Committee chairs in their respective countries and shared with Rotary's General Secretary who, in consultation with the chair of Rotary's International PolioPlus Committee, selects the recipients.
We are working on a story about the PolioPlus Memorial Scholarships and one of the scholars from Pakistan has already done a blog post for Rotary Voices which you can find here:
https://blog.rotary.org/2017/10/19/how-rotarys-polio-scholarship-is-helping-me-achieve-my-goals/#more-8213
We anticipate a similar blog from one of the scholars in Nigeria soon.
I hope this information is helpful and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Best regards, Carol Pandak
We are working on a story about the PolioPlus Memorial Scholarships and one of the scholars from Pakistan has already done a blog post for Rotary Voices which you can find here:
https://blog.rotary.org/2017/10/19/how-rotarys-polio-scholarship-is-helping-me-achieve-my-goals/#more-8213
We anticipate a similar blog from one of the scholars in Nigeria soon.
I hope this information is helpful and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Best regards, Carol Pandak