Jonathan Majiyagbe - President Rotary International

Question: Rotary is committed to eradicating polio worldwide. Out of all diseases, why polio?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: I think we chose polio because of the ease with which we thought at that time it could be eradicated. It was easy to immunise a child and make him or her absolutely free from polio.

Rotarians, being practical people, wanted some kind of hands-on project, which they could be involved in themselves. It's no good just giving people money and hoping that they then use it for whatever they want.

Rotarians wanted to participate and it was easy to put the polio vaccine into the mouths of children, without any training. This then prevents polio and totally eradicates it from the face of the earth, so that's why we chose polio eradication.

Question: In 1988 polio paralysed more than 350,000 a year. Now there are just a few hundred cases worldwide. When do you see the final eradication of polio?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: The target date for Rotarians is 2005, the centennial year of our organisation, and I think we're very close. As a matter of fact, 99 per cent of the cases now prevailing in the world are concentrated in just three countries: Pakistan, India and Nigeria.

Question: So if the target is met in 2005, what do you think would be the next key disease Rotarians will focus on?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: Rotary is very democratic - the president does not dictate to members what needs to be done. We will need to go to Rotary's legislative council, possibly in 2007, to decide on what the next global initiative will be.

But already, a lot of people have asked me about landmines or water treatment, for example. Speaking for myself and not for the organisation, it might be a question of water management, but it remains to be seen what the organisation decides.

Question: What more would you like governments to be doing to eradicate global diseases?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: I think that it's pretty difficult. Perhaps government in terms of the United Nations and World Health Organisation (WHO) for that matter, could inform us of the serious diseases of the world at any particular moment and then government should direct us towards that.

Look at what happened when SARS broke out, everybody jumped on the bandwagon of making sure it didn't come to their own country.

So if the World Health Organisation informs us of the sort of diseases that need to be tackled, that would be a good thing. I would like all governments of the world to aim for the curing of all people afflicted with HIV / AIDS.

Question: How do Rotary's educational programmes specifically help people in third world countries who are not receiving any kind of education?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: Well, this year for instance, one of my areas of focus is literacy and education. Rotarians approach literacy training in all their communities, in many different ways, either by giving scholarships or building schools, or perhaps the type of programme we once had in Thailand of concentrated language training - which is a way of teaching people to be literate within a very short time.

That is the sort of thing I think we need people in developing countries to embark upon. In a short time most people are literate, because when you have a literate community then you have a healthy situation.

They can then fend for themselves, they can have a healthy environment and that is where education can play an important part.

Question: The last few months have been turbulent ones for the UN - with people questioning its ability to act as a global peacemaker. What's your assessment of this situation?

Jonathan Majiyagbe:Well, the UN after all is a reflection of all our communities. I think the world is changing and people must adapt to these changes. What I would like to see, speaking as a Rotarian, is the expansion of Rotary clubs all over the world, because as the United States President and Rotarian Warren Harding said: "If it is possible to plant a Rotary club everywhere in the world, I would do so, and by doing so I would ensure world peace."

Rotarians are people of goodwill and they promote international understanding.

So I would want the members of the UN to have the spirit of Rotary in their minds. I wish particularly that they embrace the four way test principles of Rotary, then there will be peace. The four way test is this:

You ask the questions, Is it true, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendship and will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Everything that Rotary does is a contribution to world peace. If UN members ask these questions, then people will respect each other's feelings and there will be less friction.

Question: What specifically is Rotary doing in terms of peace and conflict resolution?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: I have just come from the University of Bradford where we had a presidential celebration on all matters of peace.

Rotary has always dreamt about international peace, goodwill and understanding. Since Rotary became international shortly after 1905 it has always promoted this aim.

It was only two years ago that we fulfilled our dream of setting up Rotary peace centres at seven prestigious universities around the world where we train scholars in two-year masters degree programmes in peace and conflict resolution.

Over time this will result in a reservoir of men and women who will be trained mediators, negotiators and diplomats, and who will all contribute to world peace. They will work in areas of conflict in the world.

This is one of Rotary's most recent contributions to world peace. At the Bradford Peace Conference we spoke about the students' impact, and their enthusiasm was easy to see. They are ready to go out there and make their contribution to world peace. Rotary's next Presidential Celebration will take place in St Petersburg, Russia where we will address pressing health concerns.

Question: How do you want to see Rotary develop as an organisation over the next five years?

Jonathan Majiyagbe: Well I'd like to see Rotarians continue doing exactly what they've been doing these past 99 years.

Namely in 166 countries, promoting goodwill and understanding and helping in their various communities. Promoting high ethical standards in business is also important.

Every year the president of Rotary issues a clarion call, a kind of challenge to members on what needs to be done. This year I'm asking Rotarians to "lend a hand". Lend a hand simply means reaching out to the less privileged people in communities, doing what comes naturally when you see your brothers or sisters in distress.

Now, there is a limit to what one hand can do, but when you have more hands, then you are able to meet all the needs of the world. The needs of the world are limitless, but the humanitarian work of Rotarians is limited by the number of Rotarians we have. So the more hands we have, the more communities we will reach.

Therefore, we are asking people to join us. My emphasis over the next five years is to increase the number of Rotarians, to have a lot of members joining our ranks so that we can increase the number of people we help all over the world.