AREAS OF FOCUS POLICY STATEMENTS 

The Rotary Foundation strives to process grants efficiently and ensure the quality of grant-funded projects.  

Each area has a policy statement which can be viewed online at www.rotary.org, where you’ll find lists of eligible and ineligible activities, including examples of the types of projects that Rotary clubs and districts have successfully implemented. All grant requests must comply with the policy statement related to their intended area of focus. Project planning is the responsibility of the host club or district. 

PEACEBUILDING AND CONFLICT PREVENTION 

Rotary supports training, education, and practices related to peacebuilding and conflict prevention through initiatives that help transform conflict in our communities and around the world. 

TRF enables Rotarians to advance peacebuilding and prevent conflict by: 

• Enhancing the capacity of individuals and communities to transform conflict and build peace 
• Training community members in peace education, peace leadership, and conflict prevention and resolution 
• Providing services that help integrate vulnerable populations into society 
• Improving dialogue and community relations to determine how best to manage natural resources 
• Funding graduate scholarships for career-minded professionals related to peacebuilding and conflict prevention 

DISEASE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT 

Rotary supports activities that reduce the causes and effects of disease. Projects strengthen the health care system by improving access to and expanding medical services, providing medical equipment, or training health care personnel. 

TRF enables Rotarians to prevent and treat disease and support health by: 

• Improving the capacity of local health care professionals 
• Promoting disease prevention and treatment programs that limit the spread of communicable diseases and reduce the incidence and effect of noncommunicable diseases 
• Strengthening health care systems 
• Providing clinical treatment and rehabilitation for physical disabilities 
• Funding graduate scholarships for career-minded professionals related to disease prevention and treatment 
• Preventing traffic- or vehicle-related injuries, provided these projects can demonstrate measurable reductions in such injuries 
• Supplying vehicles, personnel, and equipment to provide emergency medical services. Ambulances must be new and purchased locally and include documentation of ownership, operation, maintenance, repair, and security systems by the appropriate health care facility.
  

WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE 

Rotary supports activities that encourage the management and protection of freshwater resources and provide universal and equitable access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. TRF seeks to empower governments, institutions, and communities to manage their water, sanitation, and hygiene services through environmentally sound, measurable, and sustainable interventions. 

TRF enables Rotarians to ensure communities’ sustainable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene by: 

• Facilitating universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water 
• Improving water quality by protecting and maintaining surface- and groundwater resources, reducing pollution and contaminants, and promoting wastewater reuse 
• Facilitating universal and equitable access to improved sanitation and waste management services in order to achieve open defecation-free communities 
• Improving community hygiene knowledge, behaviors, and practices that help prevent the spread of disease 
• Strengthening the capacity of governments, institutions, and communities to develop, finance, manage, and maintain sustainable water and sanitation services 
• Funding graduate scholarships for career-minded professionals related to water, sanitation, and hygiene 

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH 

Rotary supports activities and training to improve maternal health and reduce mortality for children under five. Projects strengthen the health care system by improving access to and expanding medical services, providing medical equipment, and training health care personnel. 

TRF enables Rotarians to improve the health of mothers and their children by: 

• Reducing the neonatal and newborn mortality rate 
• Reducing the mortality and morbidity rate of children under five 
• Reducing the maternal mortality and morbidity rate 
• Improving access to essential medical services, trained community health workers, and health care providers 
• Funding graduate scholarships for career-minded professionals related to maternal and child health
  

BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY 

Rotary supports activities and training to improve education for all children, and literacy for children and adults. 

TRF enables Rotarians to ensure that all people have sustainable access to basic education and literacy by: 

• Supporting programs that strengthen a community’s ability to provide basic education and literacy to all 
• Increasing adult literacy 
• Working to reduce gender disparity in education 
• Funding graduate scholarships for career-minded professionals related to basic education and literacy
  

COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Rotary supports investments in people and communities to alleviate poverty, creating measurable and enduring economic improvements in poor and underserved areas. 

TRF enables Rotarians to alleviate poverty by: 

• Building the capacity of local leaders, organizations, and networks to support economic development in poor communities 
• Developing opportunities for productive work and improving access to sustainable livelihoods 
• Empowering marginalized communities by providing access to economic opportunities and services 
• Building the capacity of entrepreneurs, social businesses, and locally supported business innovators 
• Addressing gender or class disparities that prevent populations from obtaining productive work and accessing markets and financial services 
• Increasing access to renewable energy and energy-efficiency measures to create more sustainable and economically resilient communities 
• Empowering communities to develop environmental and natural resource conservation skills for economic gain 
• Strengthening communities’ economic resilience and adaptive capacity in response to environmental and climate-related hazards and natural disasters 
• Developing and supporting community-based basic emergency preparedness services to improve economic resilience 
• Funding graduate scholarships for career-minded professionals related to community economic development
  

ENVIRONMENT 

Rotary supports activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance environmental sustainability, and foster harmony between people and the environment. 

The Rotary Foundation enables Rotary members to protect, preserve, and conserve the environment by: 

• Protecting and restoring land, coastal, marine, and freshwater resources 
• Enhancing the capacity of communities and local governments to support natural resource management and conservation 
• Supporting agroecology and sustainable agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture practices to improve ecological health 
• Addressing the causes of climate change and climate disruption and supporting solutions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases 
• Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and communities affected by climate change and climate disruption 
• Supporting education to promote behaviors that protect the environment 
• Advocating for the sustainable consumption of products and the environmentally sound management of byproducts to build a more resource-efficient economy 
• Addressing environmental justice issues and environmental public health concerns