III PRESIDENTIAL CONFERENCE ON INFANT MORTALITY AND SOCIAL
NETWORKING
BUENOS AIRES, AUGUST 8 AND 9 2008
On August 8 and 9 2008, the 3rd Presidential Conference, of a total
of twelve conferences that will be held throughout the world,
took place in the Holy Catholic University in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. The conference, directed by
RI President D.K. Lee
addressed the issues of Infant Mortality and Social Networking.
It included zone 23B which comprises the Rotary Districts from
Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Ecuador.The first
day was devoted to an analysis of “Infant Mortality” which is an
issue that President Lee has emphasized as one of the two major
endeavors during his term. Besides President D. K. Lee, there
were several other active participants in the discussion of the
program. These included Director Themistocles Pinho (Brazil),
PRIDs Mike Pinson (USA), Barry Rassin, (Bahamas), Carlos Speroni,
(Argentina), the Representative from UNICEF, the Albino
Foundation,
PDG Jaime Ceballos Vergara (Chile), and DGE’s Maria
Cisneros, Victor Casaretto and Jorge Pertierra (Argentina), all
of whom are distinguished Rotarians who gave an account of the
actions and response by Rotary to this threat (Infant
Mortality), as they outlined the projects underway for
prevention and treatment of the causes of Infant Mortality in
their zone. Of all the projects accomplished during the period of
2007-2008, five received a Presidential Citation by RI President D.K. Lee. Topics discussed during the session were:
- A panoramic
view of Infant Mortality,
- The goals of the United Nations and
Rotary International,
- Answers through Rotary Service, Exemplary
Projects,
- and the Message of President Lee, all of which
culminated in a very valuable and attractive program for Rotary
development.
Saturday, August 9, was devoted to determine the most
effective practices to recruit and retain members in each club,
and to analyze strategies towards adapting to future changes.
Topics for the development of networking were the following:
- Changes in the demographic profile,
- Setting of goals,
- Tendencies
among volunteers,
- Mentoring,
- How to attract and retain potential
members, and
- during the afternoon, there were several discussion
groups whose purpose was to explore and present a vision of the
future for Rotary International in its endeavor to encourage
growth in the social sphere.
From left to right, the Coordinator for Health
and the Fight Against Hunger in zone 19 of Latin America, PDG
Jaime Ceballos (Chile), PRI Dong Kurn Lee (Korea), District
Instructor, Pamela Moreau (Chile), and the Director of RI, Zone
19, Themistocles Pinho (Brazil)
Opening session of the Presidential Conference
Presentation and Analysis of Projects for
Prevention and Treatment
Treatment of the Causes of Infant Mortality in Zone 23 B
|
