Dr Azar Jammine, Director and Chief Economist at Econometrix spoke to us on 'Rating Downgrades and the Implications'.This is not a topic where I can even pretend understanding other than by appearing to concentrate and by nodding occasionally. For me it was a brilliant talk because he made it all so clear and he pointed out how with the lifting of sanctions and careful management by government our GDP grew at a fantastic rate so that we rose from junk status to something like AAA - . Then we were hit by the world economic crash when every country had to borrow money and spent it on infrastructure...except us where the loan was spent on salaries and increasing the size of the civil service and the parastatals. From then on it has been downhill all the way.
Thank you, Azar, for clarifying the whole thing for me personally and I am sure many others as well.
We had two visitors who are potential Rotarians, Babani Xaba and James Byrne who was previously a member of Parktown Excalibur. A pleasure to have you both with us.
See the Anns' Page to see the latest project they are considering.
This Week
Our speaker this week is Costa Qually who is joining us from Parktown Excalibur where he was President in 2005/6. He is an accountant and was with Deloitte for 47 years ending up as Deputy Chairman and Reputation & Risk Leader.
He continued to consult to Deloitte after his retirement. He is also a Past Chairman of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants and currently Chairman of the Rosebank Community Forum.
Rotary launches a new strategic partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace
What do we mean when we talk about peace? Is it possible to measure peacefulness? What conditions foster peace, and how can Rotary help create them?
Rotary is addressing those questions and forming a strategic partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, a leader in the study of peace and conflict.
The institute has pioneered a conceptual framework for positive peace, which identifies and measures the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. They include, for example, a sound business environment, a well-functioning government, and the free flow of information.
Through this partnership, Rotary will work with the institute to create:
- An online learning platform, with webinars and interactive tools, that Rotary members and Rotary Peace Fellows can use to build on their expertise. It will teach them how to apply new peacebuilding methods and mobilize communities to address the issues behind conflicts.
- Positive peace workshops, funded by global grants and hosted by Rotary clubs around the world, to provide training in the framework of positive peace. The goal is to foster community-based projects in peace and conflict resolution that are both practical and meaningful.
This partnership will enable Rotary members, peace fellows, and others to design and execute stronger peace projects and promote peace more broadly, which is crucial to meeting our humanitarian objectives in every community.
Barry Rassin, of the Rotary Club of East Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2018-19. He will be declared the president-elect on 1 September if no challenging candidates have been suggested.
As president, Rassin aims to strengthen our public image and our use of digital tools to maximize Rotary’s reach.
“Those who know what good Rotary clubs do will want to be a part of it, and we must find new models for membership that allow all interested in our mission to participate,” he says. “With Rotary more in the public eye, we will attract more individuals who want to be part of and support a membership organization that accomplishes so much good around the world.”
Rassin earned an MBA in health and hospital administration from the University of Florida and is the first fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in the Bahamas. He recently retired after 37 years as president of Doctors Hospital Health System, where he continues to serve as an adviser. He is a lifetime member of the American Hospital Association and has served on several boards, including the Quality Council of the Bahamas, Health Education Council, and Employer’s Confederation.
A Rotarian since 1980, Rassin has served Rotary as director and is vice chair of The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees. He was an RI training leader and the aide to 2015-16 RI President K.R. Ravindran.
Rassin received Rotary's highest honor, the Service Above Self Award, as well as other humanitarian awards for his work leading Rotary’s relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake there. He and his wife, Esther, are Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation.
Rassin’s nomination follows Sam F. Owori’s death in July, just two weeks into his term as Rotary International president-elect.
The members of the 2017-18 Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International are Anne L. Matthews (chair), Rotary Club of Columbia East, South Carolina, USA; Ann-Britt Åsebol, Rotary Club of Falun-Kopparvågen, Sweden; Örsçelik Balkan, Rotary Club of Istanbul-Karaköy, Turkey; James Anthony Black, Rotary Club of Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland; John T. Blount, Rotary Club of Sebastopol, California, USA; Frank N. Goldberg, Rotary Club of Omaha-Suburban, Nebraska, USA; Antonio Hallage, Rotary Club of Curitiba-Leste, Paraná, Brazil; Jackson S.L. Hsieh, Rotary Club of Taipei Sunrise, Taiwan; Holger Knaack, Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany; Masahiro Kuroda, Rotary Club of Hachinohe South, Aomori, Japan; Larry A. Lunsford, Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri, USA; P.T. Prabhakar, Rotary Club of Madras Central, Tamil Nadu, India; M.K. Panduranga Setty, Rotary Club of Bangalore, Karnataka, India; Andy Smallwood, Rotary Club of Gulfway-Hobby Airport (Houston), Texas, USA; Norbert Turco, Rotary Club of Ajaccio, Corse, France; Yoshimasa Watanabe, Rotary Club of Kojima, Okayama, Japan; and Sangkoo Yun, Rotary Club of Sae Hanyang, Seoul, Korea.
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