July 03, 2026: Every July, Rotary turns its attention to one of the oldest and most personal measures of a community's wellbeing: the health of mothers and the health of children.
Maternal and child health is one of Rotary's seven areas of focus. It sits alongside peacebuilding, disease prevention, water and sanitation, education, economic development, and the environment. Together they represent Rotary's understanding that lasting change requires attention to the systems that make a community strong from the ground up.
The scale of the need is stark. According to Rotary International, an estimated 5 million children under the age of 5 died in 2020, mostly from preventable and treatable causes. Roughly half of those deaths, 2.4 million, occurred in the first 28 days of life. The leading causes are largely preventable or treatable with basic care.
Rotary's response is community-led. Members provide education, immunizations, birth kits, and mobile health clinics. They train community health workers, distribute insecticide-treated bed nets, and help mothers learn how to breastfeed and protect their families from disease. Through The Rotary Foundation, global grants fund longer-term work, from maternal health centres to pediatric surgeries, in partnership with local ministries and health organizations.
Some of that work happens at the scale of a single club. Other efforts are much larger. In 2022, Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria was named the recipient of Rotary's Programs of Scale award, a member-led initiative working to reduce maternal and newborn deaths in one of the countries where those numbers remain highest. Elsewhere, Rotary members have supported HPV vaccination policy in Sri Lanka, immunization campaigns across nine remote Pacific Islands, and community health worker training in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia.
A Quiet Foundation
Maternal and child health is not a headline area of focus. It rarely trends. But it may be the most human one. Every other cause Rotary works on, from clean water to education to peace, depends on a mother surviving childbirth and a child living long enough to grow up.
For the Rotary Club of West Ottawa, maternal and child health is an area where our work has been indirect but consistent. As one of District 7040's largest and most established clubs, RCWO supports maternal and child health through our long-standing contributions to The Rotary Foundation, which funds global grants for maternal and child health projects around the world. Closer to home, our support for the Ottawa Rotary Home, providing respite care for children with special needs and their families, reflects the same principle. Healthy children and supported caregivers are the foundation of a healthy community.
Every Mother, Every Child
An estimated 5 million children under the age of 5 die each year from causes that are almost entirely preventable. Rotary's work is to close that gap, one community at a time.
The health of a mother and child is where every larger story begins. This July, Rotary is paying attention to that beginning. To learn more about Rotary's work in maternal and child health globally, visit Rotary International's Maternal and Child Health page.
References
Rotary International. "Improving Maternal and Child Health." Rotary International, www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/improving-maternal-and-child-health. Accessed 3 July 2026.
Rotary International. "Areas of Focus." Rotary International, www.rotary.org/en/our-causes. Accessed 3 July 2026.
Rotary Service in Action. "Maternal and Child Health." Rotary Service in Action, rotaryserviceblog.org/category/rotarys-areas-of-focus/maternal-child-health/. Accessed 3 July 2026.
Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health. Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health, www.rotaryrmch.org. Accessed 3 July 2026.
Rotary District 7070. "July Is Maternal and Child Health Month." Rotary District 7070, rotary7070.org/stories/july-is-maternal-and-child-health-month. Accessed 3 July 2026.
Rotary Club of West Ottawa. "About Us." Rotary Club of West Ottawa, rcwo.org/stories/about-us. Accessed 3 July 2026.
Published on: Friday, July 3, 2026
Prepared by: Douglas Baldwin