Rotary to pursue a Public-Private Partnership working agenda in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, 15 July 2014 00:52 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The values of Rotary were introduced to Gowri Rajan at an early age by her father T.R.R. Rajan, who was the 51st President of the Rotary Club of Kandy. In 1997 she joined the Rotaract Club of Kandy (the youth arm of Rotary) and subsequently formed the Rotaract Club of Katugastota in 1998 and became its Charter President. At the installation ceremony of her uncle D.G.E. Suri Rajan in 2002, Gowri joined the Rotary Club of Kandy. Since then she has held positions in club level as well as district level and has won District Recognitions for her service rendered to Rotary. In 2008 she became the 68th President of the Rotary Club of Kandy, creating history by being the first woman and the youngest to take office. This year she became the first woman to be elected as the Rotary District Governor for Sri Lanka and Maldives and is also the Director and CMO of Sun and Asoka Group of Companies. In an interview with the Daily FT, Gowri discussed her plans for Rotary as the District Governor for 2014/2015 and also shared some of the projects that Rotary has carried out benefiting the country. Following are excerpts: By Sarah Hannan Q: How will the Rotary support peace building in Sri Lanka, which is a cry from the private sector? A: Rotary is a non-religious and non-political service organisation which includes members from various religious beliefs and ethnicities. All Rotary clubs have Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils and we have worked together for several years. Its all about respect and acceptance of a person. We have district governors elected from all communities. This is the biggest contribution Rotary can bring to support peace building in Sri Lanka. We also focus on peace as we offer Rotary Peace fellow scholarships for professionals who have a strong commitment to international understanding and peace. Once they complete their scholarships the Peace Fellows will give back their knowledge to the society by committing to the advancement of peace and serve as leaders in national governments, NGOs, the military, law enforcement and international organisations such as the United Nations and World Bank. These programs lasts for three months to two years and are conducted through universities located in US, UK, Japan, Australia, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and Sweden. The degree program focuses in fields related to peace and conflict resolution and prevention. Q: What is your vision for Rotary Sri Lanka as the first woman District Governor? A: My job will be to motivate clubs to increase the number of projects and I as the District Governor must support and if required help solve any key hurdle they have to cross. There are three key projects undertaken by various clubs this year: nHuman Heart Valve Tissue Bank: We hope to set up the first ever Human Heart Valve Bank at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) which will cost over $ 300,000. LRH is the largest childrens hospital in the country and largest in the south Asian region. Children from North, South, East and West are all treated here for serious illness. The hospital administration approached Rotary through Rotary Colombo Fort to establish a Human Heart Valve Bank for the children affected with congenital heart disease. Every year 3000 children are born with life threatening heart conditions needing urgent medical intervention and most of them need valves. At the moment they use Animal and Artificial valves with high number of rejections. The cost of a valve is about Rs. 300,000 ($ 2,300 approx.). Once we setup the Heart Valve Bank, they have the option of storing valves of dead people in this bank and use as and when required. Many Sri Lankans have given the consent to donate their organs once they are dead. At the moment there is no Human Heart Valve Bank in Sri Lanka. This will elevate the heart surgeries to the next level in Sri Lanka. nPlanting one million trees: One million trees will be planted across the country in partnership with Irrigation Department, Divisional Secretary of the area, Agrarian Services Department, Forest Department, Road Development Authority and Sri Lanka Army. The community is given employment opportunities in terms of labour e.g. collecting seeds, potting plants, keeping the nursery; transport of plants to the required destination, final plantation; etc. Second, as a long-term benefit the community will have less environmental problems in their farming activities e.g. water availability in the drought season, enrichment of soil, etc. nGift of hearing: $ 500,000 worth of brand new hearing aids will be distributed to the needy. The needy will be identified by the 62 Rotary Clubs spread across the country. In addition $ 100,000 worth of audiometers will be donated to some of the National Hospitals that will be identified. Q: How will you link with the private sector? A: The Rotary can work with the private sector in a very productive way. The private sector has the cash resources but may not have the administrative and geographical reach to engage in Humanitarian work across the length and breathe of the country. In contrast, Rotary Clubs are functioning across the country and can work with the private sector in implementing CSR programs at grassroots level with minimum administrative cost. It is a win-win situation for Rotary, the community at large and the country. Q: What work has Rotary done in the past with the private sector? A: Though Rotary works with the private sector we are also open for requests made by the Government. We have a proven track record of working with the Government. The Schools Project and Polio Plus are an example. So we will wait for opportunities and welcome the Government calling on us to work with them. Among the notable projects we have carried out partnering up with the private as well as the public sector are:

Early Cancer Detection Centre in Colombo funded by Rotary and Dialog.

Rebuilding of 23 tsunami affected Government schools costing around Rs. 1.3 billion. They were rebuilt as state-of-the-art schools with all modern facilities. Standard Chartered Bank partially funded this project for a cost of Rs. 100 million. The Government of Sri Lanka via the Health Ministry has expressed its appreciation of Rotary’s work and our professionalism in administering the project and even felicitated Rotary at a special event held in Colombo. The Governor of the Central Bank has also referred to our project as the “best practice” model to follow in a forum for tsunami donors. Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia to become polio free. On 1 July 1991 then Rotary Governor K. R. Ravindran signed an agreement on behalf of Rotary Sri Lanka with the Minister for Health for a sum of $ 900,000 which was the cost of vaccines for our routine immunisations. This was part of the full package of $ 1.5 m. In 1994 a task force consisting of members from the Govt and UNICEF and Rotary was formed. The entire polio eradication program of the nation was orchestrated by this committee and the Government accepted our proposal to run National Immunisation Days. In April 1995 Rotary committed a sum of $ 750,000 while WHO committed $ 250,000 and UNICEF $ 500,000. It is also to be noted that Rotary worked closely with UNICEF to negotiate a few days of ceasefire with northern militants to conduct National Immunisation Days.

Setting up the Sri Lanka Anti-Narcotics Association.
Rotary and GSK Panadol project on blindness prevention project where a series of eye camps were organised throughout the country.
Continuous upgrading of National Hospitals and provision of water and sanitation facilities to poor schools and communities.
Establishment of the Lab Technicians Training Centre in Kandy and donation of medical equipment to the Ministry of Heath, funding the entirety of equipment required at eye centres in Regional Hospitals.

Q: What are the key issues that Rotary has identified for the Sri Lankan private sector that must be addressed as a priority? A: Almost half the districts in Sri Lanka are above the national average on poverty. The private sector that operates across the country must work with the public sector to correct the situation. We from Rotary will support the initiatives. Maybe if skill development is targeted by the private sector, overall productivity levels can increase and also the national issue of the scarcity of labour can be addressed. Generally the private sector has the tendency to work on its own when it comes to working on humanitarian projects. It needs to understand the value addition that Rotary can bring if working in partnership. That is a culture change.